THE Nigeria Police yesterday paraded a dismissed sergeant and two others for their alleged involvement in the killing of Mrs. Rasheedat Jimoh in Ilorin, Kwara State.
According to the police, the suspects shot the deceased in her shop in Ilorin in the presence of her daughter and house help on July 7, 2017.
The dismissed sergeant, Oche Ellah, was paraded for allegedly selling the gun that was used to kill Mrs. Jimoh.
He reportedly sold the gun to the other suspect for N50,000.
The other suspects paraded are the principal suspect and the person who fired the shot, Ibrahim Aminu, male, 18 years, from Shagari Local Government of Sokoto State and Saadi Abubakar, 28, from Funtua, Katsina State and the person who bought the Barreta pistol that was used to kill the victim.
Speaking during the parade at the Force Headquarters in Abuja, Deputy Force spokesman CSP Aremu Adeniran said one Barreta pistol and 19 rounds of live ammunition were recovered from them.
According to Adeniran: “On July 7, 2017 at about 2200hrs, at 2, Jimoh Bolanta Street, Kulende Ilorin, Kwara State, the principal suspect and other suspects yet to be arrested, armed with Barreta pistol, stormed the shop of the deceased, Mrs. Rasheedat Jimoh, shot her in the left side of her back, targeting her heart and killed her in the process, in the presence of her daughter and house-help. They robbed them of cash and other valuables before fleeing the scene.
“The deceased was taken to hospital where she was confirmed dead.
“Consequently, Inspector-General of Police Ibrahim Idris directed the Special Tactical Squad and Intelligence Response Team (IRT) to conduct a discreet investigation into the incident and the circumstances surrounding the killing of the woman, and arrest the perpetrators.”
On how they were arrested, he said: “The joint IGP-IRT and STS teams embarked on investigation, trail and manhunt of the perpetrators, which led to the arrest of Ibrahim Aminu, an indigene of Shagari village in Shagari Local Government of Sokoto State and recovered in his possession a Barreta pistol with 19 rounds of live ammunition.
“Aminu, during interrogation, made confessional statement to the police investigation team. He confessed and admitted to have fired the shot that killed Mrs. Jimoh.
”The arrest of the principal suspect, Ibrahim Aminu, led to the arrest of two other suspects, namely Saadi Abubakar, male, 28 years, an indigene of Funtua Local Government of Katsina State and Oche Ellah, male, 35 years, an indigene of Otukpo Local Government of Benue State.”
On the roles the other suspects played, the police said: “Saadi Abubakar from Funtua Local Government of Katsina State, during investigation, confessed and admitted to be the owner of the Barreta pistol, which he bought at N60,000 from Oche Ellah and gave to Ibrahim Aminu for criminal activities.
”Oche Ellah from Otukpo Local Government of Benue State confessed and admitted to have sold the Barreta pistol to Saadi Abubakar for N50,000.00 and not N60,000 as claimed by Saadi Abubakar.
“He also admitted that he bought the pistol at Yongo village in Benue State through one Ugbede, who is still at large.”
The police said the suspects have made confessional statements and admitted to the roles they played, adding that investigation was on to arrest other suspects.
The police said they would be arraigned after investigation.
On why the victim was murdered, Aminu, who claimed to be a scavenger, said: “We did not intend to kill her. Our intention was just to steal from her, but when we fired the shot and discovered that it penetrated her body, we fled.
“We only wanted to rob her of her belongings to settle a debt. We did not know that she would die. I know owning a pistol is a criminal offence and I cannot blame my actions on the devil. I can only blame laziness for my action.”
