The Kano State Police Command has arrested a 35-year-old man, Sadiq Zubairu, for the murder of Bello Bukar Adam, a staff of the Kano State Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO).
Bello was declared missing by his family after he left home on Sunday, May 5, 2024, and didn't return.
His corpse was later found at a location in Kumbotso Local Government Area of the state.
Bello’s younger brother, Abdullahi Abubakar, said the deceased was at home around 12pm on Sunday when he received an urgent call from the suspect, Sadiq, who was his confidant and former colleague.
The spokesperson of the command, SP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, who confirmed the arrest in a statement on Thursday, May 9, said that Sadiq had deceitfully collected the sum of N3m from late Bello on the pretext that he would secure a better job offer for him.
According to the PPRO, Sadiq confessed that he had no means of returning the money to the deceased so he hired two hefty men, conspired with them and killed Bello.
“On 05/05/2024 at about 10:00am, report was received from a resident of Zawaciki Quarters in Kumbotso LGA, Kano State that his elder brother, Bello Bukar Adam, a KEDCO staff, aged 45 years old, 'm', of Zawaciki Housing Estate, Kano had left his home with his Toyota Corolla Motor Vehicle, Ash in Colour since on 04/05/2024 and his whereabouts is unknown,” the statement read.
"On the evening of the same date, there was a report that the deceased body of a male adult had been discovered abandoned at the outskirts of Eastern Bypass, around Bechi Village in Kumbotso LGA, Kano State. The body was removed from the scene by a team of crime-scene Policemen led by Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Kumbotso Division, SP Mustafa Abubakar, who brought the corpse to Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, where a Medical Doctor certified the body dead.
"On the developments, the Commissioner of Police, Kano State Command, CP Mohammed Usaini Gumel, FIPMA, psc raised from the headquarters team of detectives led by the Officer in Charge (O/C), Anti-Kidnapping Squad, SP Aliyu Mohammed Auwal and directed that the suspect (s) be trailed and arrested within 24 hours.
"The team immediately swung into action and arrested one Sadiq Zubairu, aged 35 years old, 'm', of Hotoron Arewa Quarters, Nassarawa LGA on 06/05/2024 at 9:00am.
"During preliminary investigations, the suspect confessed that he conspired with two others, and jointly lured the victim to his house who until his death were intimate friends. He narrated that he tied him up, and hit him with sticks and sharp iron on his head and other parts of his body until he became motionless. Thereafter, he loaded the motionless body inside the boot of the deceased's Vehicle, threw him off by the roadside along Eastern Bypass, around Bechi Village and left away with the motor vehicle, a Toyota Corolla, 2015 Model including his Mobile Phone.
"The suspect further confessed that what led to this regrettable incident was after he deceitfully collected the sum of three million naira (N3,000,000:00) from him on the pretext that he would secure a job offer for him. But having realised that he had no means of returning the money to him he hired two hefty guys, conspired with them killed him and hid the Motor Vehicle at a Garage in Hotoro Quarters, Kano. The Vehicle has since been however recovered by the Police.
"While the CP commiserate with the deceased family on this sad development, the Commissioner of Police reaffirms the commitment of his Command to combating crime in all its forms and to continue to work tirelessly in protecting the lives and property of all Kano residents.
“Finally, the CP appreciates the good people of the State for their cooperation and urge everyone to remain vigilant and keep reporting any suspicious movement of person(s) or item(s) they come across to the nearest Police Station or through the following Kano State Police Command emergency contact numbers:- 08032419754, 08123821575, 09029292926.”
Earlier, Bello's brother in an interview with Daily Trust, said they were aware that the deceased had a job deal with some people and he was confident of securing the offer.
“Bello was desperately looking for a Federal Inland Revenue Service job offer. He was so hopeful. He was working with Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) and wanted to join FIRS. And somebody was soliciting the offer for him," Abdullahi explained.
“When he received a phone call in relation to the job offer, he asked his wife to bring his car key and went to the person waiting for him. Since then we never heard from him. “Since he did not return that Sunday. We decided to track his calls. The last word of his conversation with the person on the other end was Alhamdulillah. From this, we understood that he was lured into believing that the offer was ready-made Abdullahi said the family members searched for Bello endlessly, but they could not find him
"We went out in search for him from one mortuary to another; from one hospital to another and from one police station to another. We went to every place we thought corpses could be kept. Yet he was nowhere to be found. We returned home weak.”
Abdullahi said they thought their brother was kidnapped and were expecting the abductors to demand a ransom. But nobody called them to do so.
"On Monday we were at MTD Kano to track his last call again when we received a call from somebody informing us that a corpse was found in Kumbotso LGA and was taken to a police station; and later Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. It was our brother’s corpse. He was gruesomely killed.”
"Tracking testified that Bello’s last call was with Sadiq with whom he worked at KEDCO. Based on a police investigation, Sadiq was found complicit. Sadiq later confessed to killing Bello, even though the investigation is ongoing.
"His car was later recovered, but his phones couldn’t be found. And Sadiq confessed he participated in the killing of Bello. But we don’t know yet who are Sadiq’s accomplices.”
On Tuesday hundreds of relatives and well-wishers gathered at Gama B where Bello was buried.
Abdullahi said that the family members were in severe pain because Bello trusted Sadiq.
"When Sadiq was sacked from KEDCO, Bello called him back. And they worked together. When Bello was promoted, he made sure Sadiq was reinstated. They worked together until his death. We saw him as our brother’s confidant and subordinate.”
Sani Bala, the spokesperson of KEDCO, who said that the news of the passing of Malam Bello Bukar was tragic and shocking, saying the suspect was not their staff at the time of the incident.
“It was very shocking and sad for the company. He was one of the most hardworking and dedicated staff in the company. Honestly the deceased and the suspect had a cordial working relationship, even though the suspect was not our staff at the time of the incident,” Bala added.
