By Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna
The Nigerian Police in Kaduna says it has arrested two suspects in Zaria for complicity, following a video that went viral on the internet showing a person completely buried from his neck downwards and only his head out.
A statement issued Thursday by the state police command stated that immediately the Police got wind of the video, efforts were made to locate the victim and possibly arrest the culprits which yielded desired results as the victim one Abubakar Aliyu 20 years old of Gauraki village under Kufena ward Zaria was identified and traced.
Equally, two culpable suspects Yahaya AbdulKadir 24 years old and Abdullahi AbdulKadir 18 years old all of Gauraki village in Kufena ward Zaria, were arrested in connection with the dastardly act of burying the victim alive.
Preliminary inquiry reveals that both the victim Abubakar Aliyu and the suspects Yahaya AbdulKadir and Abdullahi AbdulKadir with others were working as laborers at a building construction site in Abuja when the phone handset of Abdullahi AbdulKadir valued at thirty five thousand naira (N35,000:00) was stolen were they all lodged. The police statement stated.
The victim, Abubakar Aliyu was alleged to be the prime suspect of the missing phone. Accordimg to police imvestigation it was resolved among the labourers that “Abubakar Aliyu’s daily wages will be used to buy another phone as replacement for Abdullahi AbdulKadir”.
Abubakar Aliyu, piqued by the resolution left Abuja and returned home. “However, he was trailed to Zaria by the duo of Yahaya AbdulKadir and Abdullahi AbdulKadir who happened to be siblings”.
“On Saturday 10th August, 2024, the two of them located him and forcefully took him to an uncompleted building, dug the ground akin to a grave, bound his hands and feet, covered his mouth with a piece of clothing, placed him inside the hole and covered it with the earth leaving only his head outside.
“They left their victim Abubakar Aliyu in the said condition until when a passerby heard his groans and alerted the public before he was rescued. The two suspects Yahaya AbdulKadir and Abdullahi AbdulKadir were later arrested by the Police and they admitted to have committed the act as a form of interrogation in connection with the stolen GSM handset.
“The Commissioner of Police Kaduna State Command, CP A.D. Ali, while warning the general public against jungle justice by taking the law into their own hands, has stated that the case will be carefully investigated and the outcome of the report will be handled professionally”, it stated.