New Telegraph

Benue: Eight held for killing, burying six kidnap victims

Suspects kill wives for threatening to expose them

Police yesterday said they had arrested eight of 10 suspected bandits and serial killer gang members who reportedly killed six people and buried them in shallow graves in Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State. Also, vigilantes have arrested two suspected members of a notorious five-man kidnapping and robbery gang who had been terrorising residents of Otukpo Local Government Area of the state.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Catherine Sewuese Anene, said in a statement that the eight suspects were picked after detectives acted on intelligence. The bodies discovered in the shallow graves, the New Telegraph learnt, included that of one kidnapped victim, Catherine Akishi.

Two of the suspects, who led the team of policemen to the site in Katsina-Ala, are Aondoaseer Terseer alias Bob Tsetse (23) and Orkashima David alias Cashmoney. Anene said the criminals were members a 10-man gang of kidnap suspects who escaped from Sankara axis but were trailed and arrested in Osun State and brought back for further investigation.

She said: “Members of a 10- man gang of kidnap suspects escaped from Sankara. Acting on intelligence, police detective trailed and arrested eight of the suspects in Osun State and brought them back for further investigation. “On 10th May 2021, about 10am, these suspects opted to lead police detectives to Tavachan forest, Mbamon, Kastina-Ala Local Government Area where they buried their slain victims. Upon arrival at the scene, a deep well and shallow graves were found in the forest with decomposed corpses of their victims.”

The PPRO said the suspects confessed that some of the victims died due to inability to survive the trauma of being held hostage while others were killed for not paying the required ransom. She said two of the suspects also confessed to have killed their wives for making attempt to expose their nefarious acts.

Anene said four bodies had been exhumed for autopsy while investigation into the case was ongoing to enable the arrest of suspects at large and unravel more facts about the case. The police spokesperson said the suspects had been arrested and charged to court while normalcy had been restored in various markets within Sankara area. Meanwhile, local vigilantes have arrested two suspected members of a notorious fiveman kidnapping and robbery gang terrorising residents of Otukpo Local Government Area.

The kidnapping gang members, New Telegraph learnt, have been terrorising residents of Igbanonmaje axis and were apprehended following intelligence volunteered by some members of the public. The suspects, Abubakar Usman (23) and Usman Sani (25), were arrested at different locations around Otukpo on Wednesday morning.

The suspects, according to the police in Otukpo, have confessed to some crimes of robbery and kidnappings which took place in Otukpo in recent times. According to the police, the suspects have given some useful information about their activities.

T he Chairman of Otukpo Local Government Area, Hon. George Alli, said the latest news of arrest of the suspects was a welcome development. He said: “I am particularly happy about the positive responses from residents after the security summit which we held on 30th April.

“You could recall that the common language used during the security/stakeholders’ meeting, beginning from AIG Wilson Inalegwu (rtd) to the other speakers was: ‘if you see something, say something’. I am glad that our people are responding positively to that call.” Alli, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Gender Affairs, Desmond Oogwu, assured residents of Otukpo and its environs of the commitment of his administration to fighting all forms of criminality to reduce crime rate to its barest minimum.

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