The three men alleged to have kidnapped and killed the Human Resources Manager of Dangote Industries Limited, Istifanus Bello, have said he was murdered for bringing incomplete ransom.
The suspects identified as Abdullahi Saliu, Babuga Adamu and Abubakar Gide, revealed that Bello got them angry after bringing N5.6m instead of the N10m agreed for the release of four expatriates earlier kidnapped by their gang.
They said Bello was killed after he had been held for three days because he allegedly refused to call his employer to pay the balance of N4.4m.
As earlier reported, Bello had gone to the Ijebu-Igbo area of Ogun State with N5.6m as ransom payment for the four expatriates.
While the foreigners were released, he was abducted and later killed.
His corpse was reportedly recovered from a river by the police.
Investigations by the Abba Kyari-led Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team resulted in the arrest of Saliu, Adamu and Gide in Lagos, Kwara and Ogun states.
The men, who were Fulani herdsmen, were on Tuesday transferred from the Force headquarters in Abuja to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja, Lagos, pending the conclusion of investigation.
In an interview, the arrested suspects said 10 of them carried out the operation.
Twenty-year-old Saliu, an indigene of Kano State, said they were led by one Alti, who fired the shot that killed Bello.
He said, “We were 10 that carried out the operation and we were all fully armed. We had attacked and abducted the four expatriates while they worked in a quarry located in a forest in Ijebu-Igbo; they were guarded by two policemen who had an AK-47 rifle and a pump-action rifle. We surrounded the quarry, overpowered the policemen and took one of their rifles. We didn’t touch them.
“We then moved the expatriates into the forest where we fed them with bread and soft drinks. We made contact with their families and the company and demanded N30m ransom. We later reduced the money to N20m and then N10m.
“Some days later, the man (Bello) brought N5.6m. Our leader, Alti, was angry and after releasing the four expatriates, he seized the man. He said he must call his family members or the firm to pay up the remaining N4.4m or else he would be killed in three days. But the man said he does not have any number to give us and he does not have any money. After the three days elapsed and nobody came for him, he was shot dead.”
Saliu said he was paid N150,000 from the ransom after which he left the group.