"I killed My Brother Because He Was My Father's Favourite, He Trusted Him More Than Other Children"— Suspect

By The Nigeria Voice

A 20-year-old man has narrated how he organised and hired some men to kill his elder brother because the deceased was his father’s favourite.

The suspect and his partner were arrested by policemen attached to the Inspector-General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team, headed by a Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari.

Ibrahim Abdullahi and his partner in crime, Hassan Amadu, 22, were alleged to be kidnappers and armed robbers.

The two of them were also allegedly responsible for the murder of Kadade Abdullahi in Amana Maikasuwa Village in Kaduna State.

The fact that Ibrahim was behind the murder of his brother came to light after operatives of the IRT attached to Operation Puff Adder, Kateri Annex, arrested a member of the gang that killed Kadade.

The suspect, while singing like a bird during interrogation, talked about the operation that led to the murder of Kadade.

The operatives swung into action and proceeded to Amana Maikasuwa, a village in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, where they arrested Ibrahim and Amadu.

While being quizzed by police, Ibrahim and Amadu confessed to have actively participated in the murder of Kadade.

They also admitted to arm robberies and kidnappings along Kaduna-Zaria Expressway. According to Ibrahim, he belonged to a gang that specialised in robbery, kidnapping and cattle rustling.

He confessed to have hired assassins to kill his brother. He said: “My father is married to four wives and has many children. “I don’t know what is special about Kadade that our father wouldn’t ever take care of his other children without rubbing it on our faces that Kadade was special.

“I was sent to Arabic school in Kaduna, while only Kadade attended primary and secondary schools.

“My father said it was not necessary for other of his children to go to school because he wanted every one of us to become farmers.

“And yet, he was always the first person to insult and call us illiterates, saying we couldn’t speak English Language.

“How can I speak English Language when my father did not send me to school? “I only learnt how to cultivate corn and rear cows. “I had to get married to convince him that I was old enough to handle responsibilities. “As soon as I got married, my father gave me only 20 cows and two plots of land.

“The reason I carried out the killing of my blood brother with the help of my gang members was because our father trusted my late brother much more than he trusts me. “It is also because of the sum of N1,700,000, which our father realised from selling his cattle. “The money was kept with my brother.” Ibrahim further confessed to have approached Amadu and disclosed his intention to kill his elder brother.

He told Amadu that he wanted him to carry out the job of killing Kadade. After Ibrahim convinced Amadu to carry out the murder, the latter went out and recruited Auwalu, Kiri Jumare, Nakaduwa and Yellow, who are all still at large.

Ibrahim told them told that they were hired to kill his Kadade and that it had to be done the following day. The hired killers on March 21 at about 12:30am stormed Ibrahim’s family residence and Kadade was shot to death.

He recounted that his friend, Amadu, although a cattle farmer like him, was into robbery and kidnapping. One day Amadu asked him to join his gang. Ibrahim said: “Since my father refused to grant me easy access to money, I decided to join Hassan’s gang.

“We started by stealing rams, goats and sheep. “When Hassan was able to get enough AK47 rifles, we started cattle rustling. “He also introduced me to one Abdulahi who lives in the forest. “The man made us promise to start kidnapping people who are rich in our community. “Whenever we collected ransom, we give him certain percentage.

“I sold three of my cows at N100,000 each to get enough money to marry and take care of my new wife. “I never kept the stolen cows because my father would have noticed and accused me of stealing. “Most of the people that we kidnapped were Fulani cattle rearers, people we knew. “We got to know the very rich ones whenever they come to sell their cows. “When we kidnap them, we ask them to submit the sales of that day. “It is only a few times that we entered the Kaduna-Zaria Expressway to abduct motorists.

“We tried as much as possible to avoid operating along expressways because there are many stronger gangs in charge of those areas. “Sometimes, these gangs, when they need more hands for an operation, invite us.” The plan to murder Kadade was born after he sold some cows and made N1.7 million. It was a good deal and when Kadade returned home, he made so much noise about it, causing their father to grin with pride.

Their father then shocked everyone by asking Kadade to keep all the money to himself. Ibrahim recalled: “We expected him to share the money but he asked Kadade to take it to the bank the following day. “On that day, I was very financially down, so I asked my father to help me with some money. “He insulted me and then told me to learn to be responsible like Kadade.

“I become bitter and immediately called Haruna and told him about the money, which was in our house. “I told them to come that night and to make sure they kill my brother.

“Although I now regret my action, but then I thought that his death would make my father to allow me to control some of his businesses.

“At about 12am, five of them came and knocked on my window, which was a signal to let me know that they were around. “They searched everywhere, including my room, and they killed my brother. “My father was devastated; I consoled him that it was Allah’s wish. “In the morning, I went to the bush to meet the gang and they told me that it was only N300,000 that they found with my brother.

“I collected N100,000 as my share since I was the person that brought the job. “It was later when the villagers heard about the death of my brother that we got to know that he kept part of the money in the village market safe.”

Ibrahim explained that when police came, some neighbours were arrested, but they were later released. Kadade was soon buried and forgotten.

The murder of Kadade, according to the police, was labelled a cold case. Ibrahim said: “I was surprised when police came back some weeks later with Hassan and arrested me. “I am terribly sorry and hope that my family will forgive me.”

Amadu narrated his own side of the story: “My father sent me out of the house when I was 15 years old to go and learn how to rear cows from one Alhaji Sani.

“Although my father is also a farmer, he preferred to send me out because he has so many sons. “The agreement was that at the end of each year, the man that I was serving would give me a small cow.

“That was how I was expected to continue until I had enough cattle to start my own cattle farm. “It was in the bush that I met one Haruna and we became friends. “He gave me an idea on how to make my own money. “He told me that Alhaji Sani was very rich and has so many cows, that he wouldn’t notice if one goes missing.

“I started like that by leaving one behind every month, whenever I take them out for feeding. “Haruna would come back to where I left the cow, to collect and sell it. “This worked for me till Alhaji Sani discovered that his cows were missing and sent most of us away. “I told Haruna my plight and he asked me to come and start working for him.

“This was how we started stealing cows and gradually Haruna introduced me to robbery and kidnapping. “Ibrahim is part of our gang and normally anyone could bring information about a target, which was why he told us that there was money in their house.

“I never knew that he asked Haruna to ensure that Kadade was killed. “We all live around the same village, so I knew Kadade very well. “He was hardworking and generous. “I would never wish him dead.

“On the day of the incident, I was busy searching the other rooms for money when I heard a gunshot.

“I thought it was just to scare people and warn us to prepare to move out. “It was in the bush I learnt that Kadade was killed. “We only found N300,000 in the house and my share was N40,000.”