By Desire Emmanuel
Operatives of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command have arrested three armed robbery suspects involved in ‘one-chance’ operation that led to the gruesome murder of an Abuja-based legal practitioner, Mrs Chigbo Princess Nwamaka Mediatrix.
The names of those arrested were given as Saifullahi Yusuf (aged 22 years), Ishau Yusuf (aged 24 years) and Minka’ilu Jibril, also known as Dan-Hajia, all residents of Dei-Dei, Abuja.
According to information, on January 5, around 5:50 p.m., the female lawyer boarded their black Volkswagen Golf 3 vehicle along the Kubwa Expressway, unaware that the occupants were criminals.
Upon entry into the vehicle, the robbers wound up the tinted windows and threatened her with weapons in an attempt to force her to pay ransom for her release.
When she refused to cooperate, she was assaulted and pushed out of the moving vehicle along the Kubwa Expressway, resulting in her death.
Following the incident that generated widespread reactions, the FCT Police Command’s Scorpion Squad, between January 6 and 10, while acting on intelligence reports, tracked the woman’s mobile phone that was with them and conducted follow up operations at Dei-Dei, Dakwa, and Dan-Tata communities within Kubwa area of the FCT.
According to the command, preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects are members of a notorious ‘one-chance’ armed robbery syndicate that has been operating on and off within the FCT for several years, particularly during festive periods.
The command wrote: “The suspects further admitted to dispossessing the victim of her mobile phone, which was later sold at Dei-Dei for ₦120,000 from which Minka’ilu Jibril received ₦30,000, Saifullahi Yusuf received ₦15,000, and Ishau Yusuf and another suspect currently at large shared the remaining amount.
“During the arrest, the exhibits recovered from the suspects included five pairs of scissors, two daggers, two knives, one long chain used for restraining victims, among others. These items are believed to have been used in the commission of their criminal activities.”
They were said to have given more information to the operatives and they are expected to be prosecuted at the conclusion of the investigation.
