God planned priest’s death by using me
In his latest lyrics, he said that after killing Adeyi, he still went ahead to pretend he (the priest) was alive just to collect the ransom from his family. According to him, he used his share of the ransom to build a fantastic four-room apartment.
Operatives of the Inspector General of Police, (IGP) Special Intelligence Response Team (IRT), who tracked and cracked the kidnapping gang two months after the abduction of Adeyi, said they were shocked over Abdullah’s lack of remorse in murdering the priest. Rather, Abdullahi looked into eyes of the policemen and smirked.
He wanted them to understand that whatever God planned, nobody could change it; thus there was no sense in crying over spilt milk. He explained that the priest had to die, because God planned it that way. He added that God also planned that he, Abdullahi, should be the killer.
He calmly explained: “I sensed danger and alerted Aliu, who was in the bush with me. The priest was with us. I sensed some people were trailing us. We started running, instead of the priest to run with us, he ran in the opposite direction. He ran towards the direction of the vigilante men that were hunting us. I felt he was trying to escape.
I shot him. He died on the spot. We abandoned his corpse and left the bush. The next day, his family called me. They paid N2million ransom. I got N750, 000 as my share. I used it to build four rooms apartment in my village, Bauchi State.
I want you to have this in my mind; I had no intention of killing that priest, but it was destined by God that the priest should die by my hand. The destiny played out. His death was beyond my control.” Abdullahi, who is said to be second in command of the gang, was arrested along with others identified as Suleiman Gina, 30, gang leader, Aliyu Garba 26 and Haruna Idi, 27.
The police said: “Sequel to the kidnapping and murder of Reverend Father John Alex Adeyi of Catholic Diocese of Otukpo and Parish Priest of St Bernard’s Parish Okpoga on April, 24, 2016, by some notorious kidnappers and collection of ransom from his family, the IGP, Ibrahim Idris, ordered IRT operatives to embark on a massive manhunt.
And with the aide of Technical Intelligence Resources of the Force, all four kidnappers, including the priest’s killer were arrested. They were arrested in Bauchi, Enugu and Benue States by IRT men between September 1 and 14, 2016.
“The black Nokia Lumia phone of the priest was recovered in Boto village, Bauchi State, while the phone used for the ransom negotiation was recovered in Obollo town, Enugu State. The priest was murdered in Ogonokwu Forest, Otukpa area Ogbadibo Local Government Area of Benue State, from where his body was recovered on June 22, 2016, two months later. The suspects confessed to have collected N1.7m ransom from the priest’s family after they killed him.
The suspects led IRT operatives on September 15, 2016, to the bush in Orokam area of Benue State, where the team recovered three guns used in the operation. The guns were buried in the bush.” Abdullahi, a Fulani herdsman, said he left his village for Benue State in 2013.
He worked with one Alhaji Ishiaku, who owns plenty cows. During his sojourn with Ishiaka, he met and became friends with his present gang members- Haruna, Suleiman and Aliu. They initiated him into robbery.
Together, they robbed many motorists on highways and dispossessed them of valuables. Later, Suleiman, the gang leader, sold the idea of diversifying into kidnapping to other members of the gang. They bought it. Abdullahi said: “Suleiman, most times, used to pick our targets.
Whenever we kidnapped victims, we take them to our camp at Olukamu, in Adegun area of Benue State. We also camped some of our victims in the bush along Enugu Benue Road. In April, we kidnapped the priest and his driver.
We took him into the forest and kept him for three days. While we were waiting for the man’s family to give us feedback on the ransom demanded, I discovered that some vigilante men were in the bush, searching for him. They wanted to rescue him. He tried to escape, I shot him.”
Recounting his own story, Garba, also a herdsman, said he was born in Ibadan, Oyo State and later relocated to Enugu State for business. In 2015, he entered Benue State to work with one Yabaju, a Fulani man. Garba said: “I joined this robbery gang in the same year in Benue State.
We normally operate along the Orokam Expressway, Otukpa, Benue State. We operated with a single barrel long gun and a locally made pistol for operation. We used to take advantage of bad spots on the expressway to rob motorists.
Our targets are usually exotic, expensive looking vehicles. Our gang leader, Suleiman, did the surveillance and whenever he sighted vehicles he felt the occupant was rich, he would signal us. We would stop the vehicle and rob the occupant.
On the day we kidnapped the priest, Saidu and I blocked the road after Suleiman signalled to us. He said we should stop the white SUV. We didn’t know who the occupant was, but the moment we saw the priest, we knew he was rich.
We stopped the vehicle, threw out his driver and dragged the priest at gun point into the bush. We walked for five hours in the bush until we got to a point we felt was okay to camp him. We kidnapped him on a Sunday. The next day, we contacted the priest’s family and demanded a ransom of N28m. Suleiman and Haruna didn’t stay with us in the bush.
They were the ones always moving in and out to get us food. By Monday evening, we made our first ransom demand. We noticed the family of the priest was acting funny. They weren’t ready to cooperate. They wanted to lure us out. I don’t know what came over Saidu, he just pointed a gun at the priest and killed him! I asked why he did it, he couldn’t explain.
When Suleiman and Haruna came and saw what we had done, they pulled out of the operation. They ran to their villages. Saidu decided to follow me to my base in Obollo Town, Enugu State. We intended to wait there until things cooled down.”
He said they were still hiding when the priest’s phone rang. The caller was one of the priest’s family members. The caller said they were ready to pay N2m ransom. Garba said: “Saidu, who was with the phone, warned them not to come with police. He directed them to come with the money to a certain venue.
After about two hours, they brought the money. Saidu picked it. Saidu and I shared the money. I got N658, 000 as my share, Saidu got N750, 000; we sent N100, 00 to Haruna and N80, 000 to Suleiman. I used part of my money to rent an apartment in Obollo town and invested the rest in my grocery business. After that operation, I parted ways with every member of the gang. I don’t know how police trailed and arrested Haruna and Suleiman. They both led police to arrest me and Saidu.”
The fourth suspect, Idi, said the gang had carried out robbery attacks in Enugu and Benue States. He said the gang was formed two years ago. In the gang’s first robbery operation, the members blocked the expressway in Benue State and hijacked a trailer. He said he made N30, 000 from the operation.
He said they were having a field day, carrying out robbery operations until their leader brought the idea of kidnapping. He narrated: “On the day we kidnapped the priest, I was the one who drove Ali and Saidu to the point where we kidnapped the priest. I can’t explain why Saidu shot the priest.
I wasn’t there; but after the priest was killed, I left for my village. The next day, Saidu called and said that the priest’s family paid N500, 000. He gave me N100, 000 as my share. Two weeks after, we went to that same spot to rob unsuspecting motorists, but before we knew what was happening, policemen came out from nowhere and engaged us in a shootout.
We changed our location and succeeded in robbing a trailer carrying goods. We collected N150, 000 from the driver. I got N50, 000 as my share. That operation was the last I did before I was arrested. I have also taken the police to the bush where I buried our guns.”https://newtelegraphonline.com/killed-catholic-priest-used-ransom-build-house-suspect/
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