Police parade 2 kidnap, thuggery suspects, indict Senator Melaye
The police have paraded two suspects alleged to have been enlisted by Senator Dino Melaye to cause confusion in Kogi State in the build up to the 2019 general elections. The Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Moshood Jimoh, who paraded the suspects yesterday in Lokoja, said the duo had been terrorising people of the state […]
The police have paraded two suspects alleged to have been enlisted by Senator Dino Melaye to cause confusion in Kogi State in the build up to the 2019 general elections.
The Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Moshood Jimoh, who paraded the suspects yesterday in Lokoja, said the duo had been terrorising people of the state for a long time.
He said the suspects, Kabiru Saidu, aka Osama and Nuhu Salisu, were arrested by men of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) in the state on January 19 at Ogojueje in Dekina Local Government Area.
He said the suspects confessed to be members of a kidnapping gang and also working as political thugs for politicians in the state.
According to Moshood, one of the suspects, Kabiru Saidu confessed they met with Senator Dino Melaye in Abuja sometime in December last year where he (Melaye) asked them to start working for him as political thugs ahead of 2019.
He further alleged that the gang leader confessed that the senator gave them one AK47 rifle, two pump action guns and N430, 000.
Moshood said following the indictment of Melaye and criminal confessions against him, the force had written the Senate president requesting him to release Melaye to report to the Kogi State command of the police on March 7, to enable the police investigate the issue.
He added that the senator had since refused to honour the police invitation, while a case of criminal conspiracy and unlawful possession of prohibited firearms had been filed against the two suspects at the Federal High Court Lokoja.
Reacting to the allegations, Melaye said it was “framed up and an orchestrated attempt” by the state government to discredit him.
“This is an attempt to shut me up and stop me from speaking the truth but they have failed. It is an orchestrated lie by the governor and the police. I have tweeted about six weeks ago that they want to set me up because I got an intel from government house when they met to set me up
“You can see the conflicting statements by the criminals, I heard one said I gave two AK47 and pump action, while the other said I gave only one rifle and that I gave N430,000 to train militia, and that I met them in airport road in December 2017 but they didn’t give a date and time,” Dino said.