The Nigeria Army has arrested 13 suspects linked with the disappearance of retired Major General Idris Alkali whose vehicle was recovered from an old mining pond in Dura-Du in Jos south local government area of Plateau state on Saturday, September 29.
Daily Trust reports that among the suspects paraded is a woman said to be the organiser of the over 500 women who had demonstrated half naked on September 22 in an attempt to stop the military from exploring the pond.
It was gathered that the women in an attempt to wrestle weapons from the hands of military personnel in the area claimed that the pond had ancestral ties to the communities.
The women also said that no search by the military would placate the death of their husbands and children.
Speaking on the arrest of the suspects, the garrison commander of the 3rd Armoured Division, Maxwell Khobe Cantonment in Rukuba, near Jos, Ibrahim Mohammed said those paraded did not directly commit the crime.
Mohammed said the paraded suspects w ere those who knew when the vehicle of the retired senior military officer was pushed into the pond and also know those responsible.
“Those paraded are those who heard and saw the criminals that stopped the retired senior officer and those who pushed his vehicle into the pond but failed to report these criminal act to security agencies, are being paraded,” Mohammed said.
He also said some of the suspects had been arrested with locally made rifles and pistols as well as ammunition used by the military.
Mohammed also said that the suspect would be handed over to the police for further investigations and possible prosecution.
Confirming the incident, the Plateau state police spokesperson, Tyopev Terna, said the suspects and the exhibits were transferred to the command on Wednesday, October 17.
Terna said: “I have just been informed that suspects and exhibits in the case of the missing Major General IM Alkali (Rtd) have been transferred from the 3 Division Nigerian Army Barracks, Rukuba to the Plateau State Command, Jos.”
Meanwhile, we previously reported that the GOC 3 Army Division in Rukuba Plateau state, Major-General Benson Akinroluyo, said the military has pictures of all the suspects involved in the disappearance of General Idris Alkali whose car was recently found in Dura Du pond in Plateau state.
Akinroluyo also said investigation was still ongoing to fish them out.
He also urged the people of the community not to run away from their houses in fear of any military onslaught.
