The saying that every day is for the thief and one day is for the owner played out yesterday at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as the Department of State Security (DSS) nabbed four members of a gang that abducted and murdered the proprietress of Chelson Group of Schools, Dr. Edith Aliyu, in Gwagwalada, Abuja. Her abductors killed her after she recognised one of them.

The suspects included Maxwell Ajukwu, Solomon Amodu, Sunday Jacob and Aliyu's driver, Isah Angba, who initiated the abduction and was paid N200,000 from the N2 million ransom that was paid by the victim's relations.

Aliyu, who was also the Chief Executive Officer, Grants Micro Finance Bank, was kidnapped at her residence at Gwagwalada on June 29, 2014 and was buried in a bush at Yangoji village along Kwali-Lokoja Expressway a few hours after she was strangled by a fleeing gang member, identified as Douglas.

The Director of Operations, DSS, FCT Command, Ibrahim Haliru, who paraded the suspects in Abuja yesterday, explained that the gang demanded N5 million ransom, but was paid N2 million, which was converted to $11,550 and was dropped for the kidnappers around Obajana Road, Lokoja, Kogi State by Aliyu's relations.

Haliru said: “Consequently, the department initiated measures, which led to the arrest of four of the kidnappers. During investigation, the arrested kidnappers admitted to committing the crime and eventually took the DSS operatives to the location where the body of Dr. Aliyu was buried in the bush at Yangoji.”


Ajukwu, 41, in an interview, explained that he had visited Aliyu's residence on surveillance where he posed as a generating set mechanic, adding that they decided to kill the victim because she recognised him, after they removed the mask with which her face was covered when she was abducted from her home.

According to him, the school proprietress on recognising him as the person that came to her home to repair her generating set slumped and a decision was taken to kill her.

Ajukwu, who claimed to have studied economics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, narrated how the victim's driver, Angba, was giving the gang members updates on investigation into the kidnap by the SSS.

The suspect, who admitted that he and Jacob got N500,000 each from the ransom, said: “The woman slumped when she recognised me as the person that came to repair her generator and Douglas (who is at large), strangled  her to death.

Another suspect, Jacob, 39, who funded the kidnap operation, said he could not remember the exact amount he expended on the venture, but indicted the driver as the person that suggested that his boss should be kidnapped for ransom.

Angba, 27, in his defence, said he did not mean to have his boss killed, adding that the woman had assisted him with his tuition fees.

He said: “Sunday came to our house and was discussing how they kidnapped one man and he said they could kidnap my madam for ransom, but I said they should not because she is often surrounded with people. They wanted to kidnap her during the graduation ceremony of her school, but I scared them by saying she had soldiers with her.”

The driver did not however deny receiving N200,000 from the ransom, which was collected after the gang had murdered their victim and buried her in a shallow grave.
“After the woman slumped when she saw Ajukwu's face in the car, I was asked to go and park the car along the main road. Douglas asked me to tie her hands and he strangulated her,” Amodu, 32, who claimed to be a 400 level Geography student of the University of Abuja, explained.

culled thisdaynews