An armed robbery suspect, Shuaibu Rabi, says he took part in the murder of the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (retd.), because they wanted to rob him.

Rabi said this while being interrogated by policemen in Hausa language.

Our correspondent obtained a video clip of the interrogation on Thursday.

The Police had earlier on Thursday confirmed the arrest of five suspects in connection with the killing of Badeh in Nasarawa State on December 18, 2018.

The force disclosed that two principal suspects and three others were apprehended for the heinous crime.

Rabi, who is one of the suspects said he and his friends received information that Badeh was in possession of a huge sum of money which he wanted to use in purchasing a parcel of land in Nasarawa State.

The 25-year-old suspect said after killing Badeh, he and his friends stole a bag which contained a huge sum of money.

Rabi said, “What happened was that, on a certain day, my elder brother went to a market, where he met with one Churuma. Churuma told him that he got information that an old soldier (Badeh) wanted to buy a parcel of land but would be buying the land in cash.

“He said we would trail the soldier on that day and we would block him and collect the money. So, on that day, when we saw him coming, Churuma  signalled to us that it was him. Some of us stayed behind his vehicle in case he would want to reverse while Churuma stayed in front.

“But when he (Badeh) saw Churuma with a gun, he did not do like he wanted to reverse, he attempted to hit Churuma with his car but Churuma dodged to the side and then opened fire on him.

“After that, we opened the car and found a bag of money and went with it. When they opened the bag, the money was beyond what I had ever seen before.”

When asked if the money was in naira or foreign currency, the suspect said it was in naira.

He added that they were able to abduct Badeh’s friend who was in the car.

The former CDS was killed in the evening of December 18, 2018 while returning from his farm between Koso and Kugwaru communities.

The former CDS’ four military guards who provided security were said to have been a few kilometres away when the attack took place.

At the time of his death, Badeh was being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for allegedly diverting N3bn from the accounts of the air force.

The former CDS had forfeited money and choice properties to the Federal Government before his death.

Police believe that Badeh decided to carry out transactions in cash because all his accounts had been frozen by the EFCC.

The Police spokesman, Moshood Jimoh, disclosed in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, that efforts were ongoing to track down other accomplices.

He explained that the investigation into the killing was being carried out by the Joint Police Investigation Team set up by the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris.

He said, “Two principal suspects who participated in the killing of the former Chief of Defence Staff and three other suspects have been arrested in connection with the heinous crime. They are now in police custody undergoing investigation.

“The investigation into the killing of the former CDS is being intensified to arrest other suspects still at large.”

Jimoh stated that the suspects were not paraded so as not to jeopardize the ongoing investigation, adding that the force would not relent until all the perpetrators were brought to justice.

The Punch