Police parade 8 over ex-Gov Dariye father’s kidnap, murder



Eight suspects were, Wednesday, paraded by the Nigeria Police over the kidnapping and murder of the father of former Plateau state Governor, Joshua Dariye.


Pa Dafwan Dariye, 93, was kidnapped in June 2020 in Mushere Village in Bokkos Local Government Area (LGA) of Plateau state.
Parading the suspects at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), CP Frank Mba, said the former governor’s father was killed after his abductors collected N10 million ransom from his family.
The Spokesperson stated that, “Pa Dariye was abducted on June 17, 2020, and shot dead eight days after the suspects hav​e collected a ransom of N10 million naira from the family of the deceased.


“The arrest of the suspects followed unrelenting efforts by the Police to ensure perpetrators of the dastardly act are arrested and made to face the wrath of the law.


“The breakthrough that led to the arrest of the suspects began with the arrest of one Abubakar Mohammed a.k.a Buba 23, a native of Gada Biyu in Daffo district, Bokkos LGA, Plateau state. Buba is one of the principal suspects in the kidnap operation.


“The confession of the suspect which revealed how they abducted and murdered the nonagenarian, assisted the Police team in apprehending seven other members of the gang: Ya’u Saidu aka Ya’u Kaban, 40, from Kaban Village, Bokkos LGA, Plateau state, Titus Ezekiel 34, from from Horop, Bokkos LGA; Dauda Isah, 30, from Horop; Sunday Ibrahim, 35, Mushere tribe from Horop, Mangut Shumwar, 30, from Horop; Henry Amos, 35, native of Horop; and Jethro Ngusen, 57, native of Horop.” 


Mba said investigations further revealed that Ngusen, was the mastermind and convener of the gang, and had instructed one of the gang members, Mangut Shumwar, to kill Pa Dariye, because he feared that thw victims might recognise them since most of them are from the same village with the deceased.


He said Jethro was also identified as the one who took custody of the ransom and later shared the proceeds of the crime amongst the gang members.
Ngusen also claimed that Pa Dariye was a good target to make money because his son, Joshua, was former governor and senator but never helped his people.


The mastermind also claimed he had to hire 10 other people including some Fulani herders to successfully abduct the 93-yeae-old from his palace and keep him in their custody for before killing him.
Pa Dariye was first abducted in 2015 and released after ransom was paid by his family.

Similarly, operatives of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) arrested one Sadiq Abubakar, 31, from Kogi state, and one Peter Moses, 25, from Kaduna state, who abducted a 22-year-old lady to a location in Suleja.

Force PRO told journalists that, “The suspects held the young lady hostage, had repeated canal knowledge of the victim and extorted money from her parents as ransom before her release.”

He said, “Investigations by the Police team show that the suspects, who are serial virtual kidnappers, usually meet their victims on social media platforms particularly, Facebook, and thereafter lure them to their criminal hideout before subjecting them to sexual molestation and further obtaining ransom from their families.”

Mba said Police operatives also intercepted three  suspects, Emmanuel Joel, 42; Ayuba Joel, 30; Hassan Umar, 30; August 28, 2021, in possession of one AK49 rifle loaded with 14 ammunition and 26 AK47 magazines, at a border town between Nasarawa and Taraba state. 

“Investigations by the Police team revealed that the suspects are criminal arms dealers who supply weapons to criminal elements in Nasarawa and Taraba states. Efforts are being intensified to arrest members of the gang currently at large,” he said.

The Spokesperson said all the suspects would be charged to court on completion of investigations.