Missing General: Army parades 13 suspects

The military yesterday paraded 13 suspects associated with the disappearance of retired Major-General Idris Alkali whose vehicle was pulled out of an old mining pond around Dura-Du in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State on September 29.

Among those paraded was a woman said to be the organiser of the over 500 women who had demonstrated half naked on September 22 in an attempt to stop the military from exploring the pond. The women who had tried to wrestle weapons from the hands of military men had claimed that the pond had ancestral ties to the communities and any search would amount to death of their husbands and children.

While parading the suspects yesterday at the 3rd Armoured Division, Maxwell Khobe Cantonment in Rukuba, near Jos, the Garrison Commander, who is also the Head of Search and Rescue Team, Brigadier General Ibrahim Mohammed, said those paraded were not those who directly committed the crime, but those who knew when the vehicle of the retired senior military officer was pushed into the pond and also know those responsible.

“Those paraded are those who heard and saw the criminals that stopped the retired senior officer and those who pushed his vehicle into the pond but failed to report these criminal act to security agencies, are being paraded” he stated.

He said some of the suspects had been arrested with locally made rifles and pistols as well as ammunitions used by the military, adding that they were to be handed over to the police for further investigations and possible prosecution.

The Police Public Relations Office, DSP Tyopev Terna confirmed that suspects and exhibits in the case of the retired Major General Alkali were transferred to the command on Wednesday.

In a text message to Daily Trust, DSP Terna stated that, “I have just been informed that suspects and exhibits in the case of the missing Major General IM Alkali (Rtd) have been transferred from the 3 Division Nigerian Army Barracks, Rukuba to the Plateau State Command, Jos.”