The Benue State Police Command has arrested additional suspects linked to the murder of professor Gabriel Saawua Nyityo and his brother Iorngee John Nyityo. Detectives are pursuing other members of the criminal network believed responsible for the killings, police say.
Commissioner of Police Cletus Nwadiogbu addressed journalists on Friday at police headquarters in Makurdi, detailing the investigation's progress. He described the July 8 deaths in Adaka Community as a deliberate assassination, not a robbery gone wrong.
Officers from 'D' Division responded within minutes of receiving a distress call at around 2:00 a.m., Nwadiogbu said. They found both victims at the scene and immediately activated security checkpoints across the state.
The primary suspect, 23-year-old Abdullahi Usman from Awe in Nasarawa State, was captured at an NDLEA checkpoint in Lafia roughly four hours after the murders. Security forces had already been alerted to watch for him.
Usman attempted to evade detection by dismounting motorcycles before reaching checkpoints and walking through on foot, Nwadiogbu revealed. He believed the NDLEA checkpoint had no police presence and could slip past unnoticed.
"He felt the NDLEA checkpoint was not manned by policemen and decided to walk across. Unknown to him, the officers had already received information about the incident.
They searched him, recovered a phone and from the phone we established that he was one of the suspects," the commissioner said.
The Department of State Services and other Nasarawa State security agencies have expanded investigations into the case. Multiple additional arrests have followed these expanded efforts.
"They have made more arrests of those who came with him, and they have assured us they will hand them over. We are also determined to identify and arrest those who assisted them within Benue because there must have been local collaborators," Nwadiogbu stated.
He declined to reveal the exact number of suspects now in custody, citing the ongoing nature of investigations. However, he confirmed that the arrests represent significant progress in the case.
Preliminary investigations suggest criminal gangs based in neighbouring Nasarawa State carry out attacks in Makurdi before retreating across the border. This pattern has emerged from interrogations of arrested suspects.
Nwadiogbu firmly rejected claims that armed bandits had blockaded the Makurdi-Lafia highway and were targeting motorists. He described these reports as deliberate falsehoods designed to spark panic.
"That information was false. It was the handiwork of enemies who wanted to divert our attention and create panic.
We patrolled the road from one end to the other. Nothing happened.
People travelled freely throughout," he said.
The commissioner also clarified statements about police checkpoints nationwide. The Inspector-General of Police has not ordered the removal of authorised security checkpoints, he insisted.
"The Inspector-General never ordered the dismantling of police checkpoints. We are only removing illegal roadblocks mounted by individuals or groups who have no authority to stop road users.
Security agencies will continue to perform their lawful duties on our highways," Nwadiogbu explained.
