Conflicting Police, DSS Reports On Kaduna Monarch, Agom Adara’s Killers

Conflicting Police, DSS Reports On Kaduna Monarch, Agom Adara’s Killers

It is almost seven months that criminals killed the traditional ruler of Agom Adara chiefdom in Kajuru local government area of Kaduna State, Dr. Maiwada Galadima, in very painfully controversial circumstances.

Galadima was kidnapped on October 18, 2018 and was killed a week later by his abductors after collecting a N10million ransom. The gunmen also killed his police orderly on the spot and took away the monarch’s wife and his driver, who were later freed.

Also killed during the tragic incident were three palace guards who were on the late first-class monarch’s entourage when his convoy was intercepted by the kidnappers.

Since then, controversy has continued to trail Dr. Galadima’s murder as his subjects maintain that the narratives about his demise were far from the stories being told by the security agencies and officials of the state government.

Till date, most people in his domain believe that the eminent monarch was killed because of his opposition to the creation of Kajuru Emirate Council which subsumed his office. They argued that the fact that he was abducted and later murdered while returning to his palace after he accompanied the state governor to Kasuwan Magani to commiserate with families of victims of a violent clash makes the incident more curious than the manner it had been presented.

The situation is further compounded by security agencies’ conflicting reports on the actual killers of the traditional ruler.

It will be recalled that on November 7, 2018, the Kaduna State Command of the Department of State Services (DSS) paraded six suspects over the killing of Galadima. Among the suspects was a notorious kidnapper, Musa Mohammed, who had allegedly been terrorising people in the state.

The DSS director, Mahmud Ningi, who paraded the suspects, said that 20 of them were involved in the kidnap and murder of the paramount ruler. He, however, said that six of them were arrested while the others were at large.

The DSS gave the names of the suspects as Adamu Sani, Adamu Saidu, Adamu Isya, Yusuf Bello, Dahiru Muhammad Bello, and Mohammed Aminu. This came 20 days after the brutal and gruesome killing of the monarch.

Six months after the dust raised over the monarch’s death was yet to settle, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) came up with another version of the killer of Galadima, saying they had arrested the prime suspect and 17 others for similar offences.

This was announced on April 29, 2019 by Force public relations officer, Mr. Frank Mba, who named the monarch’s killer as Abubakar Ibrahim alias Dan Habu, a 37-year-old native of Kabam in Igabi local government area of Kaduna State.

We commend both the DSS and the police for the arrest of the suspects in connection with the murder of the monarch even as we express worry over the conflicting reports of the two security agencies on the matter.

This newspaper considers it curious that their reports are not tardy. In fact, the identities of the six suspects arrested by the DSS do not fit into that of the one held by the police. In names, ages, and nativity of the suspects, there is no connection or any link.

We, therefore, ask: Who is the real killer of Agom Adara Galadima? Which report is correct? That of DSS or the police?

In our considered opinion the discrepancy in the two reports have again brought to the fore the total lack of synergy among the security agencies in the country. This absence of coordination and needless rivalry has not only continued to expose them to public ridicule but has further dampened the people’s trust and confidence in the ability of the security agencies to do the right thing when occasion demands.

It is shocking that the police authorities were not even aware of the earlier report of the DSS on the matter. We strongly suggest that the right thing for the police authorities to have done when the DSS came out with their report would have been to arrange a behind-the-scene joint interrogation and possible prosecution of the suspects thereby saving themselves and the nation from this embarrassment.

The prevailing regime of trying to claim credit for anything done possibly right by the security agencies should be discontinued. What Nigerians are interested in is not who did what. They are interested in the safety of their life and property in any part of the country, which is the primary responsibility of all the security agencies.

We are also disturbed that six months after the DSS paraded the six suspects,none of them has been arraigned before a competent court for prosecution. We, therefore demand that if the secret police have established any case of the murder of the king against them, their prosecution should start without further delay. The same goes for the police. Otherwise, they should be freed because their rights are being violated by their endless detention.

The killing of the Adara Agom should not add to the nation’s long list of unresolved murder of prominent citizens. The time to act is now and the police and the DSS must rise to the challenge.

Source:- Leadershipng