By Sabiu Abdullahi
The Benue State Police Command says it has arrested additional suspects in connection with the killing of Prof. Gabriel Nyityo and his younger brother, Iorngee John Nyityo, describing the incident as an assassination rather than a robbery.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Cletus Nwadiogbu, disclosed this during a press briefing in Makurdi on Friday.
He said the two brothers were killed on July 8 in Adaka community. Police officers attached to the D Division responded to a distress call at about 2 a.m. and recovered their bodies.
Nwadiogbu said security agencies immediately activated checkpoints across the area. The effort led to the arrest of the prime suspect, 23-year-old Abdullahi Usman from Awe Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
According to the commissioner, the suspect was intercepted about four hours after the attack while trying to pass through a National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) checkpoint in Lafia.
“He felt the NDLEA checkpoint was not manned by policemen and decided to walk across. Unknown to him, the officers had already received information about the incident,” he said.
“They searched him, recovered a phone and from the phone we established that he was one of the suspects.”
Nwadiogbu said security agencies in Nasarawa, including the Department of State Services (DSS), expanded the investigation, which resulted in more arrests.
“They have made more arrests of those who came with him, and they have assured us they will hand them over,” he said.
“We are also determined to identify and arrest those who assisted them within Benue because there must have been local collaborators.”
He added that preliminary findings indicate that some criminal gangs responsible for attacks in Makurdi operate from neighbouring Nasarawa State before returning after carrying out their operations.
The police commissioner did not reveal the number of suspects in custody because investigations are still in progress.
He also dismissed reports that armed bandits had established roadblocks on the Makurdi-Lafia highway.
“That information was false. It was the handiwork of enemies who wanted to divert our attention and create panic. We patrolled the road from one end to the other. Nothing happened. People travelled freely throughout,” he said.
Nwadiogbu also clarified that the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, had not directed the removal of legitimate police checkpoints across the country.
“We are only removing illegal roadblocks mounted by individuals or groups who have no authority to stop road users. Security agencies will continue to perform their lawful duties on our highways,” he said.
The commissioner further disclosed that the command arrested 10 suspects between June and July over the killing of two Fulani leaders after a peace meeting in Ohimini Local Government Area. He said swift police action prevented the incident from developing into a wider communal conflict involving Benue and Cross River states.
He added that police also neutralised suspected armed robbers and kidnappers in separate operations across Makurdi, Katsina-Ala and Logo local government areas. Officers recovered four AK-47 rifles, six locally made pistols, 23 rounds of live ammunition, two motorcycles, mobile phones and charms.
Nwadiogbu said operatives recovered a stolen commercial motorcycle from a robbery suspect in Guma Local Government Area. He added that raids on criminal hideouts in Katsina-Ala led to the arrest of 15 suspects and the recovery of three bags of substances suspected to be cannabis.
He also disclosed that five suspected herders were arrested in Guma for allegedly grazing cattle on cultivated farmlands, while seven suspects were apprehended in Naka over the killing of a man during the burial of a youth leader.
According to the commissioner, police arrested a woman in Ukum Local Government Area for allegedly setting a house on fire, an incident that claimed the lives of two children.
On cult-related crimes, he said one suspect was arrested after rival cult groups clashed in Makurdi, while 12 suspected cult members were apprehended in Gboko during what investigators described as an annual cult meeting.
Nwadiogbu also revealed that police arrested a suspect linked to the attack on the Otukpo-Nobi community and obtained information about individuals suspected of aiding the attackers.
He further said seven Pakistani nationals intercepted during a security operation at a hotel in Otukpo were found with valid travel documents. According to him, they told investigators they were in Nigeria to conduct a market survey before establishing an electronics business. He added that the foreigners remain under profiling by the State Criminal Investigation Department.
