An 11-year-old girl who went missing after leaving home for a relative’s birthday ceremony was found dead inside a well on the premises of an Apostolic Church in Suleja, Niger State, with police arresting a 26-year-old security guard in connection with the incident.
The Niger State Police Command identified the suspect as Godwin Dauda, a security guard working at the church.
The command’s spokesperson, SP Wasiu Abiodun, disclosed this on Friday in Minna, saying the girl’s disappearance was reported at the Suleja Police Division on September 20 after she failed to return home.
According to Abiodun, the girl had left home on September 19 to attend a relative’s birthday ceremony within the area.
The case took a grim turn when a pastor of the Apostolic Church, Suleja, reported the discovery of a body inside a well on the church premises.
Abiodun said police officers, accompanied by officials of the Suleja Local Government Council, visited the scene and recovered the body.
‘The body was subsequently taken to Suleja General Hospital, where it was identified as that of the missing girl,’ he said.
Preliminary police investigation allegedly linked Dauda to the girl’s death. Abiodun said the suspect allegedly defiled the girl before disposing of her body in the church well in an attempt to conceal the crime.
The police spokesperson said Dauda fled the area after the recovery of the body but was later arrested around Kuje in the Federal Capital Territory at about 8 p.m. on September 23.
Abiodun said the suspect allegedly confessed during interrogation to luring the girl into his security room at the church.
According to the police, Dauda told investigators that he defiled the girl and that she subsequently died.
He allegedly further disclosed that he disposed of her body in the church well in an attempt to hide the crime.
The police said investigation into the case was continuing, with the suspect expected to be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in Minna for further investigation.
Abiodun said the transfer would enable the police to conduct further investigations and pursue prosecution if the suspect was found culpable.