Four sacked soldiers in police net for culpable homicide in Niger

The Niger State Police Command has arrested four soldiers in connection with the alleged killing of an officer of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in the state.

The suspects are: Sani Munzani, 24, from Kano State, Abubakar Auwalu, 26, from Kano State, Abubakar Sani, 23, from Kebbi State and Muazu Hassan, 22, from Edo State

The state Police command made this disclosure in a statement through its Public Relations Officer (PRO), SP Wasiu Abiodun, in Minna.

Abiodun explained that on March 9, 2024, at about 1820hrs, a team of NDLEA officers were on a stop and search at Ramat Junction, Bida, when two suspected soldiers, who were not in uniform, on a motorcycle, got to the point and were intercepted by the NDLEA team.

He stated that the team requested identification, but the suspected soldiers could not establish a proper means of identification, and their bag was searched, but nothing incriminating was found.

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“In the course of this, there was an argument and altercation, and after the search, the suspected soldiers left the scene and returned with additional men, reinforced to the scene for an alleged attack,” he said.

Unfortunately, during the fight, an officer of the NDLEA, Kingsley Chimetalo, was stabbed in the back with a jack-knife by one of the suspects, and his rifle was taken away, the state police spokesman revealed. Abiodun said the injured officer was taken to FMC Bida, where he later died.

In the course of the investigation by the police operatives attached to ‘A’ Division, Bida, the officer’s rifle was later recovered in a nearby bush where it was dumped without a magazine.

According to him, during the painstaking investigation in collaboration with the 18 Brigade, Nigeria Army, Bida, six soldiers were later identified, court-martialed, and dismissed, while two escaped.

The PRO further said the four suspects were handed over to the police on May 20, 2024, for prosecution, while Sani Munzani confessed to stabbing the deceased.

All suspects are under investigation at SCID Minna and will be charged to court for prosecution as soon as the investigation is concluded.