A 51-year-old man, Jibrin Ibrahim, alongside 14 suspects were arrested and on Wednesday paraded by the Joint Investigative Panel comprising...
A 51-year-old man, Jibrin Ibrahim, alongside 14 suspects were arrested and on
Wednesday paraded by the Joint Investigative Panel comprising of agents of the Defence Headquarters, the police and the
Department of State Services, over the killing of former Chief of Defence
Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh.
Two locally-made guns, two AK-47 rifles and some weapons were discovered from the suspects who admitted to the crime of collecting N2m ransom before letting go of Badeh’s friend Joseph Okpetu, who was with Badeh during the attack. It was also found that the sim card used in bargaining Okpetu's release, belonged to 51-year-old Jibrin.
Usman, also known as Chiroma, alleged to be the gang leader spoke to newsmen during the parade, he disclosed that he and 6 others murdered Badeh, whom they thought was a rich man and not a retired military officer. Recall that it was reported that Alex Badeh was killed by gunmen on December 18, 2018, while returning from his farm along the Abuja-Keffi Expressway in Nasarawa State.
Confessing to the murder, Usman said;
Two locally-made guns, two AK-47 rifles and some weapons were discovered from the suspects who admitted to the crime of collecting N2m ransom before letting go of Badeh’s friend Joseph Okpetu, who was with Badeh during the attack. It was also found that the sim card used in bargaining Okpetu's release, belonged to 51-year-old Jibrin.
Usman, also known as Chiroma, alleged to be the gang leader spoke to newsmen during the parade, he disclosed that he and 6 others murdered Badeh, whom they thought was a rich man and not a retired military officer. Recall that it was reported that Alex Badeh was killed by gunmen on December 18, 2018, while returning from his farm along the Abuja-Keffi Expressway in Nasarawa State.
Confessing to the murder, Usman said;
“It was a Friday and I came to the Gitata Market; I was the one who brought the job to the gang. I am a taxi driver. So, while I was driving to Panda village, in Nasarawa State, one Alhaji Maube Gani told me that there was one wealthy man, who owned a farm in that area and that we could make money from him. I told him I had never attacked any person in my life, but he said I should not worry.
“Then later on December 18, I drove my car out and Alhaji called me that the man had come to his farm as usual and that we should come to attack him. So, I called the other members and we met Alhaji in the Gitata area.
“At that stage of the operation, I did not know Badeh’s identity; none of us knew that the man was a military officer. There were seven of us, who participated in the operation. We just got to the road, shot the man and took away his friend.”Chairman of the Joint Investigation Committee, Maj. Gen. Bamidele Shafa, also speaking to newsmen, disclosed that efforts to apprehend other members of the gang has intensified, stating that 20 suspects had been identified out of whom 15 had been arrested.
“After thorough investigation, the panel made the following findings; one, the attack and killing of ACM Alex Badeh was criminal and did not have any political undertone. Two, 20 persons were involved in the crime, out of which 15 have been arrested.
“The suspects in custody confessed to their direct involvement in the crime. They employed automatic weapons and locally-made guns in the killing of the air chief marshal. This was buttressed by the result of the autopsy and weapons recovered from the residences of the suspects.The suspects will be handed over to the appropriate agency for investigation and prosecution."Shafa said.
