One of the suspects arrested in connection with the killing of Air Marshal Alex Badeh, former Chief of Defence Staff has given a chilling account of the attack, in a leaked video.The suspect identified as Shuaibu Rabi said his gang wanted to rob the retired general, but they also killed him in the process. He spoke in Hausa in the video published by Punch.
According to the newspaper, the suspect said he and his friends received information that Badeh was in possession of a huge sum of money which he wanted to use in purchasing a parcel of land in Nasarawa State.
The 25-year-old suspect said after killing Badeh, he and his friends stole a bag which contained the huge sum of money, which he said was bigger than he ever saw in his life.
“What happened was that, on a certain day, my elder brother went to a market, where he met with one Churuma. Churuma told him that he got information that an old soldier (Badeh) wanted to buy a parcel of land but would be buying the land in cash.
“He said we would trail the soldier on that day and we would block him and collect the money. So, on that day, when we saw him coming Churuma signalled to us that it was him. Some of us stayed behind his vehicle in case he would want to reverse while Churuma stayed in front.
“But when he (Badeh) saw Churuma with a gun, he did not do like he wanted to reverse, he attempted to hit Churuma with his car but Churuma dodged to the side and then opened fire on him.
“After that, we opened the car and found a bag of money and went with it. When we opened the bag, the money was beyond what I had ever seen before.”
When asked if the money was in Naira or foreign currency, the suspect said it was in Naira.
He added that they were able to abduct Badeh’s friend who was in the car.
Badeh was killed in the evening of December 18, 2018 while returning from his farm between Koso and Kugwaru communities.
The former CDS’ four military guards who provided security were said to have been a few kilometres away when the attack took place.
On Thursday, the Nigeria Police Force postponed the presentation of the suspected killers to newsmen in Abuja.
The force on Wednesday said it had arrested alleged killers of Badeh which it planned to present to newsmen on Thursday in Abuja.
The force Spokesman, acting DCP Jimoh Moshood said the five suspects were arrested for alleged involvement in the crime.
Moshood said that the decision to postpone the presentation of the suspects to the media was to prevent other members of the gang from escaping.
“It is significant to note that the presentation of the two suspects and the three other gang members will not come up today so as not to jeopardise the ongoing investigation,“he said.
The spokesman, who refused to give their names, said two out of the suspects actively participated in the killing, adding that the remaining three suspects played other roles in the crime.