It was gathered that a colleague of the deceased stationed five of the suspects on the route to carry out the act and divert the tanker to an unknown destination.
The suspected killers
The Niger State Police Command has arrested six suspects for allegedly killing of a fuel tanker driver, identified as Goni Mustapha, of the AGM Petroleum Nigeria Limited, Suleja.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mohammed Abubakar, confirmed the development in Minna on Tuesday.
It was learnt that the deceased was on his way from Lagos to deliver 60,000 litres of petroleum product to a location in Suleja, when one of his colleagues led five other assailants to strangle him.
Mustapha’s corpse was found lying along the Maje-Dikko Road in the Tunga Shanu area of Suleja.
It was gathered that a colleague of the deceased, Goni Tijani, 27, stationed five of the suspects on the route to carry out the act and divert the tanker to an unknown destination.
Tijani’s accomplices were named as Bashir Alhassan, 25, of Dan-Jibja in Zamfara State; Samaila Umar, 21, of the Wurno Local Government Area, Sokoto State; Abdulkadir Muktari, 21, of Dayi village, Malumfashi in Katsina State; Isah Sani of Ikorodu Garage, Lagos State; and Yusuf Muktari of Birnin-Magaji in Zamfara State.
Northern City News gathered that the suspects were trailed and arrested by a team of policemen attached to the ‘A’ Division, Suleja, while they were trying to escape with the fuel-laden tanker.
In an interview with our correspondent, the prime suspect, Tijani said, “The victim was my colleague in the same company, but I needed money to sort out my domestic problems, that was why we did what we did.”
The police apprehended the suspects at Gada-Biyu village on the Abuja-Lokoja Expressway, while they were trying to sell the product. The tanker has since been recovered and the suspects are due to appear in court soon.