The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has arrested a married woman and two hotel workers following the discovery of a man’s body under the Katampe Bridge along the Kubwa Expressway, Abuja.
The deceased, whose identity has not been disclosed, had earlier been reported missing by his family before his lifeless body was discovered on Saturday.
The FCT Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Sanusi, disclosed the development on Saturday while briefing journalists at the command headquarters in Abuja.
Sanusi said the case initially generated speculation that the deceased might have been a victim of kidnapping or “one chance” robbery, but subsequent investigation took a different direction after detectives established that the body belonged to a man already reported missing by his family.
According to the commissioner, the deceased’s missing mobile phone became a major lead in the investigation.
He said police operatives traced the phone to Mrs Rukayat Muhammed of Garki Area 2, Abuja, who was identified as the deceased’s last known contact.
Sanusi said investigation further revealed that Muhammed, a married woman, was allegedly in a romantic relationship with the deceased and had saved his contact on her phone as “Safiyat”.
The investigation subsequently took police operatives to Good Samaritan Guest House on Second Avenue, Gwarimpa, where the woman and the deceased were allegedly lodged.
According to the police, Muhammed allegedly discovered that the man was no longer breathing but left the hotel with his mobile phone instead of immediately reporting the incident to the authorities.
“Rather than immediately reporting the incident to the police, the suspect took the deceased’s mobile phone and left the hotel,” Sanusi said.
The commissioner said the hotel management later became suspicious after attempts to contact the occupants of the room failed.
He explained that hotel workers eventually gained access to the room and discovered the deceased’s body.
Sanusi said two members of the hotel management, identified as Ibrahim Omeiza and Kefat Bitrus, were subsequently alleged to have removed the body from the hotel and transported it to the Kubwa Expressway by Katampe, where it was abandoned under the bridge.
The commissioner, however, cautioned against concluding that the arrested persons were responsible for the man’s death, stressing that investigators had yet to establish the exact cause and circumstances of the death.
“The exact cause and circumstances of the deceased’s death are still under investigation, and other investigative processes are being pursued to determine the full facts of the case,” he said.
Sanusi said the command was working to establish what happened to the deceased from the time he arrived at the hotel until his body was discovered under the bridge.
He assured the public that anyone found to have played a role in the man’s death, or in the concealment and abandonment of his body, would be dealt with according to the law.
The commissioner also said the command would not rely on speculation or public commentary in determining the cause of death, stressing that the investigation would be guided by evidence.
He said the police remained committed to conducting a thorough investigation into suspicious deaths and would establish the facts before reaching conclusions.
The three suspects remain under investigation as detectives continue efforts to unravel the circumstances surrounding the man’s death and the movement of his body from the hotel to the Katampe area.
The police said further investigative processes were underway to establish the full facts of the case.