*We were contracted to assassinate him – Suspect
The Nigeria Police Force has arrested Yusuf Ismael Isah, 32 years old man from Okene, Kogi State, for attacking the convoy of Apostle Johnson Suleman, the founder of Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide, Auchi, on October 21, 2022, along Benin – Auchi road, wherein six people, including three police personnel were gruesomely murdered.
This followed an investigation by the operatives of FIB-IRT on the trail of the assailants.
Two members of the 7-man gang were gunned-down in separate encounters with the Police and the other four are at large.
Isah, a native of Okene, Kogi State and a plumber, at Agbaraoluwa Phase 2 Ijoka, Akure, Ondo State was arrested with five Ak47 Rifles, two K2 Assault rifles, 180 live ammunition and four suspected IEDs all found in his apartment.
Force PRO, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi said investigations revealed that the suspect was part of the 7-man gang responsible for the attack on the convoy of the Apostle and some of the rifles found in his possession were in fact rifles snatched from the three police officers slain during the October 21, 2022 attack.
Speaking to the journalists, the suspect confessed that he joined the vicious gang in 2021 after he was freed from Olokuta Correctional Center where he was on remand since 2019 for alleged involvement in armed robbery.
He said the instruction given by their leader (still at large) was to assassinate Apostle Suleman but he was lucky to have escaped.
He however, insisted that he didn’t know the person that ordered the assassination of Suleman.
The suspect also said the group specializes in kidnaping for ransom and have carried out about four kidnapping operations between 2021 and 2023, including the attack on the convoy of the Apostle, before the gang was eventually busted by the Police.
The suspect also confessed that the gang was responsible for the kidnap of a popular oil dealer at Jetu, Auchi in 2022, where they obtained a ransom of about N70 million naira before his release.
The gang equally carried out the kidnap of a business man along Benin – Agbor express road in 2022 and collected N20m as ransom from the victim’s family.
Their last attempt at kidnapping after the failed attack on the Apostle was along Owo – Ikare road where they were heavily engaged and repelled by the police escort accompanying their target.
