The police yesterday paraded four suspected killers of Rev. John Adeyi, the parish priest of St. Bernard’s Parish, Okpoga, Benue State.
The suspects are Suleiman Gina, 30 (leader), Saidu Abdullahi, 28 (deputy leader), Aliyu Garba, 26 and Haruna Idi, 27.
Police spokesperson Don Awunah said the suspects were arrested between September 1 and 14 in Bauchi, Enugu, and Benue States.
According to Awunah, the suspects collected N1.7 million from the family before killing Adeyi. He added that Abdullahi confessed to have fired the shot.
Gina said the cleric’s death was destined.
“He did not do anything to us, and I think his death was destined. We killed him after collecting ransom from his family because vigilante and villagers were closing in on us, so we killed him.
“We collected the ransom and hid it in the bush in one of the villages instead of saving it in the bank. We don’t have anything else to say than to say sorry to the man’s family, and plead that the government have mercy on us”, Gina said.
Awunah added that the suspects led the police to a bush in Orokam where the three guns used for the operation were buried.
Items recovered from them included three locally-made guns, Nokia Lumia phone belonging to the deceased, and a black Gicent phon, model M9.
Awunah said the arrest followed the directive of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, that a thorough investigation be conducted into the matter, adding that the suspects will be arraigned.
The police also said they arrested six suspects; Frank Adakpa, Malam Asafa, Fatai Bashir, Yahaya Mohammed, Umar Abdullahi and Wasiu Adeboye, for vandalising pipelines, and recovered 14 trucks loaded with petrol.
Three 11,000-litre tankers, loaded with adulterated diesel, were also recovered from the suspects.
He said the suspects confessed to the crime, and that investigation had been intensified to arrest others.
Other suspects held included a 17-member gang specialised in pipeline vandalism.
Two tanker trucks loaded with 33,000 litres of petrol, Toyota Rav 4, Peugeot wagon, a Chevrolet jeep and Honda Accord were recovered from them.
Awunah said they were arrested after a tip-off that they were operating at Ijora Olopa in Lagos State.
“Though the suspects volunteered confessional statements, investigation is being intensified to arrest others at large.”
He vowed that they would be arraigned when investigations were completed.