The Kano State Police Command has apprehended and paraded the primary suspect in the abduction and murder of one Bello Bukar, a staff member of Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) in Kano.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, late Thursday.
LEADERSHIP reports that the victim, identified as Bello Bukar Adam, 45, was reported missing on Sunday, May 4, 2024, after he left his house in Zawaciki Housing Estate in Kano with his Toyota Corolla car to meet a friend and never returned home.
Later that evening, his body was found abandoned on the outskirts of Kano on Eastern Bypass, near Bechi village in Kumbotso local government area of the State.
Upon receiving the initial report, the Police formed a team of detectives led by the officer-in-charge of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad, SP Aliyu Mohammed Auwal, and launched a search afterwhich the suspected killer was arrested the next day.
According to the Police statement, the suspect, 35-year-old Sadiq Zubairu, of Hotoron Arewa Quarters, Nassarawa LGA of the State, confessed to the crimes.
During preliminary investigations, Sadiq confessed to conspiring with two others at large to kill Bello over his (Sadiq) inability to return N3m he got from the deceased under the guise of securing a better job offer for him at the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
The statement partly read: “During preliminary investigations, the suspect confessed that he conspired with two others, and jointly lured the victim to his house who until his death were intimate friends. He narrated that he tied him up, hit him with sticks and sharp iron on his head and other parts of his body until he became motionless. Thereafter, he loaded the motionless body inside the boot of the deceased Motor Vehicle, and threw him off by the roadside along Eastern Bypass, around Bechi Village and left away with the motor vehicle, Toyota Corolla, 2015 Model and including his Mobile Phone.
“The suspect further confessed that what led to this regrettable incident was after he deceitfully collected the sum of three million naira (N3,000,000:00) from him on the pretext that he will secure job offer for him. But having realised that he has no means of returning the money to him, he hired two hepty-guys, conspired with them, killed him and hid the Motor Vehicle at a Garage in Hotoro Quarters, Kano. The Motor Vehicle has since been however recovered by the Police.
“While the CP commiserate with the deceased family on this sad development, the Commissioner of Police reaffirms the commitment of his Command to combating crime in all its forms and to continue to work tirelessly in protecting the lives and property of all Kano residents.”
The suspect was also seen and heard speaking in Hausa language in a video posted on the official Facebook page of the PPRO, confessing to the abduction and murder of Bello.
In the video, one of his fingers appeared to be injured, which he said was chopped off by the deceased in the ensuing melee.
SP Kiyawa, however, revealed in the video that once investigation was completed, Sadiq will be prosecuted in court.
