Suspect’s father returns part of N4.7m stolen from murdered Kano trader

The father of the alleged principal suspect in the murder of a Kano-based trader, Umar Lawal Tofa, in Niger State, has reportedly returned N1.7 million out of the N4.7 million stolen from the deceased. Tofa was killed and his remains burnt by some persons at Pele village near Ebbo in Lapai Local Government Area of […]

The father of the alleged principal suspect in the murder of a Kano-based trader, Umar Lawal Tofa, in Niger State, has reportedly returned N1.7 million out of the N4.7 million stolen from the deceased.

Tofa was killed and his remains burnt by some persons at Pele village near Ebbo in Lapai Local Government Area of Niger State on January 21, 2017, while he was in the area to buy sesame seeds.

Sulaiman Idris of Emileban village, Danlami Adamu of Ebbo village and Abdullahi Yunusa Badiri (at large), also of Ebbo village, were docked before a Minna High Court for allegedly committing the crime.

They were accused of stealing N4.7m from the deceased before setting his remains on fire.

However, it was gathered that the father of the principal suspect, Sulaiman, returned N1.7m he recovered from his son a day after the incident.

When the case was mentioned yesterday, Justice Mikail Jibril of High Court 4, Minna, adjourned it to March 28, after granting one of the accused persons leverage to access a counsel that would represent him. He also ordered that they be remanded in prison.

In a chat with Daily Trust shortly after the adjournment, prosecution counsel, Barister Usman Nuraini Baba, said the adjournment became necessary on the ground that it was only one of the suspects that had a lawyer who would defend him, while the second accused was yet to have a lawyer.