The Plateau State Police Command and the family of a University of Jos lecturer, Dr. Nandi Drenkat have differed on the arrest of a suspect linked to the killing of the academician.
The police had said in a statement that the command swung into action immediately after it received a report that Drenkat’s home was invaded by hoodlums on Saturday, May 16, who shot him and abducted his daughter.
According to the statement signed by the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, Ubah Gabriel Ogaba, a combined team of conventional police men, mobile men and operatives from anti-kidnapping unit, as well as vigilante group and hunters were deployed to the hilly areas where the kidnapped child was suspected to have been kept. He added that the scene was searched and in the process, the kidnappers were sighted on the hill and there was a gun duel between the operatives and the kidnappers.
Ogaba further said that in the process of the search by the combined team of police men and vigilantes, one of the kidnappers named as, Ali Mohammed was shot on his right leg and subsequently arrested with one AK 47 rifle with breach Number 1984/AP 0240. 29 rounds of live ammunition was also recovered from him. This is as a kidnap victim Chiboze Joseph was rescued unhurt while the other bandits fled with gunshot injuries.
The Plateau Police Command spokesman said on interrogation, the suspect confessed to the crime, adding that the case is under investigation and will be charged to court as soon as possible.
Ogaba further stated that the team extended its search for the kidnapped child Babale mountain, Jos north LGA and on sighting the combined team, the hoodlums opened fire on them, the teams overpowered the hoodlums which led to the rescue of the kidnapped daughter of the slain lecturer.
He assured that the manhunt for the fleeing suspect continues.
But a relative of the Dr. Drenkat, Sesugh Akume, has faulted the report of the police.
Akume raised posers on different aspects of the police report in a Facebook post.
“The distress call was at about 12:30 am, the response, however, was at 5:30 am, yet it was ‘immediately’? I’m at a loss. There was a hilly area where the child was suspected to be, and the kidnappers (that is the child’s kidnappers) were sighted on the hill (which precisely, please?) and there was a gun duel. There was a gun duel, and somebody was shot and caught. But the rescued victim here is not Johanan, or am I missing something?
“On interrogation, the suspect confessed to the crime. Which crime, precisely, please? Killing Nandi Drenkat and kidnapping the child, or of kidnapping the said Choboze Joseph or both”, Akume asked in the post he shared on Sunday.
Drenkat’s relation demanded that the police work harder to solve the crime, saying the explanation from the police was confusing.
“Why was the response time 5 full hours between the distress call and the action taken by the police? Why is there only a manhunt for ‘the fleeing suspects’ and not other intelligence gathering to investigate the cause and origin of the murder?
“The attack was not on the entire staff quarters, it’s also not as if the there was an exchange and provocation that made a burglary go bad. They came to kill the victim, and did. Who is behind it? Are the police seeking these answers too or they are more interested in chasing hoodlums? Because, if they are they didn’t say so. I didn’t see where they went to the crime scene to investigate either”, Akume stated.
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