Troops of Operation Safe Haven (OPSH) have arrested the chief suspect in the abduction of a priest attached to the Catholic Diocese of Kafachan, Kaduna State, Rev. Fr. Sylvester Okechukwu.
Okechukwu was abducted on March 4 at his residence in Tachira, Kaura Local Government Area of the state by a group of gunmen.
He was later found dead on March 5.
The suspect, who spoke to journalists when he was paraded at the Headquarters of the OPSH) on Thursday in Jos, Plateau State, said he masterminded the cleric’s abduction because he needed N200,000 to solve a personal problem.
The suspect is helping detectives to unravel the cause of the incident and how to arrest other suspects now on the run.
The suspect, who said he invited other criminals from elsewhere to accomplish the assignment, denied asking his colleagues to kill the priest.
He said: “Fr. Okechukwu is living in our house at Tachira and I masterminded his kidnap because I needed N200,000 to solve a personal problem.
“I invited some guys (colleagues) from other places to assist me to accomplish the mission but I didn’t ask them to kill him.
“I don’t know why they killed him. I was not with them because I later left them with the priest.”
Another suspect, names withheld, who is also being held at OPSH, said the chief suspect had called him to assist him to actualise the crime.
“At first, I refused to be part of the deal, but the chief suspect insisted. We grew up in the same community.
“So, on the said date I left my place in Warsa-Piti in Lere LGA and participated in the kidnap of the priest.
“He actually contacted other guys from Bokkos in Plateau who came with guns; after we took the priest and walked for some distance, we left him with them.
“So, we can’t say how and why they allegedly killed the priest,” he said.
An official of the OPSH said the suspects were arrested on Tuesday, following a raid troops conducted in a settlement at Warsa-Piti community of Lere.
