Police arrest killers of Hon. Musa Mante, CSP Garkuwa, 17 others

…Recover 27 firearms, 633 live ammunition, four cutlasses 

Operatives of the Force Intelligence Bureau Intelligence Response Team (FIB-IRT) have successfully ended a case of murder which seemed unsolved with the arrest of some notorious suspects involved in a criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide, and kidnapping in June 2022. 

The arrest followed a charge on the tactical and operational squads by the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, on the need to ensure cases are investigated to a justifiable and reasonable conclusion. 

The suspects, Hashimu Galadima (aka Kan-Wuka) aged 48, Abdulwahab Alhassan (aka Emeka) aged 31, Abdulwahab Ahmed (aka Dan-Mama) aged 35, and Alh. Modu Saleh, all Dass Local Government Area of Bauchi State, were arrested following credible intelligence. 

According to investigations, the suspects are members of a syndicate actively involved in kidnapping and robbery operations within Bauchi state and its environs. They confessed to the murder of one Hon. Musa Mante, a then serving member of the Bauchi State House of Assembly from Dass LGA in August 2020, and the kidnap of his two wives and 1-year-old daughter. They similarly confessed to the murder of one Mallam Dahiru Suleiman, and a retired Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP Garkuwa, who they claimed was a bane to their free operation in the area. 

Similarly, 11 suspects who confessed to being members of an unlawful society, specifically the Black Axe Confraternity (aka Aiye) were arrested in Ekpoma, Edo State, following reports on their nefarious activities within the area. The suspects – 22 years Okosun Pascal, 24 years Michael Ehineboh, 22 years Aneto Israel, 23 years Destiny Uhomogiwan, 20 years Bello Sunday, 27 years Eramoh Akhere, 22 years Osagie Adamson, 24 years Okoruwa Christian, Edoghogho Wellington (all 9 from Esan LGA of Edo State), 20 years old Momoh Kingsley from Estako West LGA of Edo State, and 24 years old Chukwu Chukwuemeka from Nkanu West LGA of Enugu State, are all university undergraduates. Exhibits recovered from the suspects are 2 AK 47 Rifles, 3 pump action guns, 1 locally made pistol, 2 AK47 Magazines, 22 live rounds of 7.62mm (about 0.3 in) ammunition, 17 rounds of 5.56mm (about 0.22 in) K2 Ammunition, and 3 live cartridges. 

Operatives of the FIB-IRT equally apprehended the trio of Murtala Ibrahim aged 37, Suleiman Rabiu aged 28, and Surajo Sani (aka Mandula) aged 39, for kidnapping and providing information to other notorious kidnap gangs on victims of their crime. The suspects who operate within Yankwani and Kurami Towns in Bakori LGA of Katsina State carried out the kidnap of a man, his wife and two children from whom they obtained a ransom of 30 million Naira. 

An escapee from the Kuje Correctional Centre in June 2022, Abdulrazak Isah, aged 27, from Ondo State, who was convicted to life imprisonment for the murder in 2013 and had spent 10 years prior to his escape from the detention facility, was arrested at Tafa LGA of Kaduna State for stealing an iPad and a computer monitor from a hotel in Sabon Wuse, Niger State. The suspect thereafter sold the monitor for the sum of N5,000 and the iPad for the sum of N10,000, before his arrest. 

The FIB-IRT recovered a total of 27 firearms including 10 AK rifles, 1 G3 rifle, 8 pump action guns, 3 locally made pistols, 3 English double-barrelled guns, and 633 rounds of live ammunition of different calibres, 8 expended cartridges, and one cutlass from the suspects during investigations. 

The Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, has assured well-meaning members of the society who are stakeholders in security, of the commitment of the Nigeria Police Force to ensuring that all criminal suspects are dealt with the full blow of the law upon arrest. 

All the suspects will be prosecuted upon completion of investigations.