‘I attacked cyclist with stone, climbed tree to watch him die’

Juliana Francis

Thirty-three-year-old Isah Hassan has revealed in chilling details, how he slammed a stone on the head of a commercial cyclist, Mohammed Baba, in order to kill and steal his motorcycle.

Hassan, while posing as a passenger, charted the 21-year-old cyclist. While they were on the journey, Hassan brought out a hidden stone from the fold of his cloth and slammed it on the head of Baba.

Baba fell to the ground and started screaming in pains. While Baba writhes and gasped his last breath, Hassan climbed a nearby tree and proceeded to watch him die.

After Baba died, Hassan stole his motorcycle and phone. He forged documents of the motorcycle and sold it. He used proceeds from the crime to settle his debtors.

Hassan would have got away with the crime, but for operatives of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Special Intelligence Response Team (IRT).

Recalling how he killed the cyclist, Hassan said: “On our way, I asked him to stop at a junction close to Airport Road. I pretended that I went to urinate; I picked a stone and hid it inside my cloth. We continued on our journey; when we got to an area where there were no houses, I hit his head with the stone. He slumped from the motorbike and started convulsing on the ground; he was also screaming in pains. I dragged his motorcycle into an uncompleted building nearby. I climbed a tree and watched him struggled on the ground for close to an hour before he died.” 

Hassan further said: “When I was sure he was dead, I went to a nearby farm, dug a grave and buried him before leaving with his motorcycle and phone. The time was 7:30 pm. It was already dark. That night, Baba’s phone started ringing. When I picked, a woman asked where he was. She thought she was speaking with him. She said that he ought to have returned home. I first pretended that I was Baba, but later told her that Baba had been arrested by police. I pretended to be a policeman.”

Baba was a commercial cyclist, who plies Bida-Minna routes in Niger State. Speaking with the woman on October 11, 2018, Hassan lied that Baba was arrested for using his motorcycle to hit a police van. Hassan further told Baba’s family that their ward was being held at A Police Division Bida.

Baba’s frantic family members rushed to the police station. When they got to the station’s premises, Hassan cleverly accosted them. He introduced himself as the policeman that spoke with them on the phone.

While the family members were hurling questions at Hassan, trying to know why Baba was arrested and if he was alright, Hassan asked them to get documents of Baba’s motorcycle. The family members found the request strange and refused.

A police source said: “The victim’s family members insisted on first seeing him before they would hand over his motorcycle documents for identification. Hassan asked Baba’s relatives to leave and return the following day. He told them that his boss, who was with the key to Baba’s cell, was not around.”

Baba’s family members were the first people to arrive the police station the following day. They couldn’t locate Hassan anywhere in the station and called his line.

“He told them that he had been deployed to Lagos State. After that, he hung up and switched off his phone. The phone line became unreachable,” said the police source.

The family members, through the Niger State Police Command, learnt that the mysterious Hassan was not a policeman; at least, he was not working with Niger State Command. The family started running from pillar to post, looking for Baba. They also visited spiritual homes and spent over a million naira seeking to know the whereabouts of Baba.

Sick and tired of the search for Baba, without getting any result, the family wrote a petition to the IGP, Mohammed Adamu. The IG directed IRT detectives, headed by a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Mr Abba Kyari, to investigate and unravel the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Baba.

A police source said: “A crack team of operatives were detailed to trail and arrest Hassan. There was a particular phone number, which the suspect had been using to call Baba’s family members. Police tracked the phone. The phone belonged to one of Hassan’s victims. The victim narrated how Hassan robbed him of his phone and motorbike. He provided information, which aided operatives in arresting Hassan in Bida area of Niger State. Hassan confessed to have killed and buried Baba in a bush before stealing his motorcycle and phone. He had earlier wanted to deny killing Baba and also insisted he didn’t know the deceased. But he was confronted with facts that he communicated with Baba. After the facts were presented to him, he started singing like a bird. He took police to the shallow grave where be buried Baba.”

Hassan further confessed to have killed Baba because of his inability to pay his debtors. 

The suspect, who is a father of two, narrated how spending above his means and always being in debt affected his life, leading him into stealing and eventually murder.

His words: “I used to work as a driver with a haulage company based in Minna Niger State and was on N18000 monthly salary. Something happened at the company, where I work, thus I had to leave to start riding a motorcycle.

“I ran into debt after I sold a motorcycle, which I bought on hire purchase. I had to sell the motorcycle after one of my children fell sick. One of my friends, Yahaya, who I met at Idi-Araba area of Lagos State, stood as a guarantor for me when I went to collect the motorcycle on hire purchase. We bought the motorcycle from a man that sells motorcycles. I was supposed to be paying N10, 000 weekly. I had paid six times before my child fell sick. I approached my guarantor, but he said there was nothing he could do. After selling the motorcycle, I used the money to treat my child.

“I later got another haulage job, which I thought I could work, gather money to pay off my debts. Unfortunately, the job didn’t work out as planned. There was another man in my village, who I owed N80, 000. He started threatening to unleash police on me. When his threats were too much, I relocated from my village and moved to Bida Town with my family.”

When his financial situation got tougher, a friend took him to money lenders. The lenders said they could only assist him with N10, 000. The friend, who took him to the lenders, collected N2000 as commission from the N10, 000 loan. He was asked to be refunding N1, 100 every week, to total N12, 000 within a 10-week span.

Hassan said: “I took the money and left the place disappointed. On my away out, I saw a motorcycle operator. I charted and asked him to take me to several places, after which I paid him. We later exchanged phone number. Later that day, I called and told him to take me to Chachar Road in Bida. Before then, I had cut some cartons into the shape of naira notes. I placed a N1000 note on end of the last ‘notes.’ I wrapped them with a nylon bag, making it look like wands of money. I deliberately asked him to pick me in front of a bank, while I clutched the nylon bag. We later headed towards Chachar Road.

“On getting to a spot on that Road, I acted as if I was looking for the Imam in that area. I pretended to be calling and receiving direction from Imam. I asked the cyclist to help me with his motorcycle and phone, while I handed him my supposed ‘bag of money’ to keep for me. I mounted his motorcycle and zoomed off. I sold the motorcycle for N80, 000. I sent N30, 000 to the man I owed in Lagos and used N50, 000 to pay the man I owed in my village.”

“After that, I became broke again. And then I met Mohammed Baba. I collected his phone number. He told me he was from Dokomba village, which was close to my village. I refused to tell him the name of my village; I didn’t want him to know anything about me. On the day he died, I told him to take me to Lafiagi Road. Baba’s motorcycle was still very new. I needed his original documents in order to sell and get a good price. I asked Baba’s family to bring his motorcycle documents to police station, with N2000, if they wanted to bail him. When they came, I asked them to hand over the motorcycle documents, but they refused, insisting they wanted to first see Baba.  I asked them to come the next day that my boss had taken Baba to B Division for more investigation. They accepted and left. I ran to Lagos State. When they called me, I told them that I was no longer handling the case. I switched off my phone.  On getting to a Lagos, I bought a fake motorcycle documents, took them to Bida and used them to sell Baba’s motorcycle for N170, 000. Sincerely, I had no intention of killing Baba. It was unfortunate that he died from the stone attack. I only want to demobilize him and steal his bike.”