Police on Wednesday in Abuja paraded four people over their alleged involvement in the abduction and killing of Rev. John Alex Adeyi in Benue State.
Rev. Adeyi was the parish priest of St. Bernards Parish, Okpoga, Benue State. Before his death, the priest had a centre that catered for the needs of widows and orphans in the state.
The suspects paraded are – Suleiman Gina (gang leader), Saidu Abdullahi, Aliyu Garba and Haruna Idi.
Items recovered from the suspects are – three locally fabricated guns, one Nokia Lumia phone belonging to the deceased and a giant Gicent phone model M9 used for negotiation and collection of ransom.
Briefing journalists during the parade, the Force Spokesman, Don Awunah, said: “consequent upon the unfortunate kidnap and gruesome murder of late Rev. Fr. John Adeyi of Catholic Diocese of Otukpo and Parish Priest of St. Bernards Parish Okpoga on April 24, 2016 after collection of ransom by vicious and notorious kidnappers, the IGP directed the Intelligence Response Team attached to IGP monitoring unit, Force headquarters to conduct a thorough investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice.
“Between the 1st and 14th September, 2016 the four suspects were trailed and arrested at different locations in Bauchi, Enugu, and Benue States.
“In the course of investigation, they confessed to be the gang responsible for the Kidnap and gruesome murder of the Reverend Father and still went ahead to collect N1.7 million ransom from his family.”