One of the five suspected killers of the ex-Chief of Defence Staff, Air Vice Marshal Alex Badeh, has revealed his role in the murder.
The suspect, 25-year-old Shuaibu Rabi, a native of Bade area of Kaduna State, said he got N25,000 out of the money they stole from the late Badeh’s car.
The former CDS was ambushed and killed on December 18, 2018, along Abuja-Keffi Expressway by some gunmen on the way from his farm. Badeh’s driver was also shot and his friend, who was also in the vehicle, was kidnapped by the gang.
The arrested suspects had confessed to killing the retired military officer in order to dispossess him of money he supposedly wanted to use to buy farmland in the Panda area of Nasarawa State.
But his family had dismissed the suspects’ claims as a cover-up, insisting that Badeh did not discuss any plan to acquire land with them.
In his latest confession, Rabi, who was arrested alongside four others – Yahaha, Maube, Aliyu Usman, aka Ciroma, and Ibrahim Abdulahi – by operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team, said Maube invited him for the operation.
The suspect, who spoke through an interpreter during the week, said he was armed with a Dane gun and joined four other members of the Ak-47 wielding gang to open fire on Badeh’s car.
He said, “Before last Christmas, I went to the market in Panda and I met with Ciroma. He told me that there was a big man who has a farm in Panda and that the man was coming to buy another farm within the area. He said he wanted us to rob the man when he brought the money for payment. That was on a Friday.
“Ciroma told me that the man was coming on a Tuesday to pay for the land. On that Tuesday, I went to my own farm and told a friend about it. We called Ciroma to know if ‘the job’ was still feasible and he asked us to come. We left together with another friend called Baso to meet Ciroma on a farm. He gave me a Dane gun. He also gave guns to some other members of the gang.
“When the operation started, Ciroma and the other members were in front of me and my friend. When we sighted the vehicle carrying the man, we started shooting. At that point, I can’t tell who killed the man. Ciroma brought out a bag from the vehicle and he gave me N25,000. He promised to give me more money later.”
