Police arrest two men for burying another man alive for allegedly stealing phone
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Police have confirmed the arrest of two men for allegedly burying alive in Zaria another man who was a labourer like them working on a construction site in Abuja.
Kaduna Police Command spokesperson Mansir Hassan, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, disclosed in a statement the arrest of the suspects for alleged complicity was facilitated by a viral video showing a person buried with only his head left out.
When police got wind of the video, Hassan explained, officers made efforts to locate the 20-year-old victim, who hails from Gauraki village, Kufena Ward in Zaria Council, and the trail led to the arrest of the suspects.
Hassan recounted preliminary investigation shows:
- The victim and the two suspects were working as labourers on a construction site in Abuja, where the telephone handset of one of the suspects – valued at N35,000 – was stolen where they lodged.
- The victim was suspected of stealing the handset and the suspects resolved the victim’s daily wages would be used to buy another phone.
- Piqued by the decision, the victim left Abuja for Zaria, to where he was trailed by the suspects who are siblings.
Hassan narrated: “On August 10, the suspects located their victim and forcefully took him to an uncompleted building and dug the ground akin to a grave.
“They bound his hands and feet, covered his mouth with a piece of clothing, placed him inside the hole and returned the earth, leaving only his head outside
“They left their victim in the said condition until a passerby heard his groans and alerted the public before he was rescued.”
The suspects were later arrested and they admitted to committing the crime during interrogation, he said, adding Police Commissioner Audu Ali has warned the general public against taking the law into their hands.
The case will be carefully investigated and the outcome professionally handled, Hassan pledged.
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