Detectives from the Rivers State Police Anti-kidnappers Squad have arrested 23-year-old Abbas Yusuf who allegedly kidnapped a 45-year-old commercial driver, Emeka Paulinus Ajukuwara, murdered him and buried him in a shallow grave at the premises of a construction company in Port Harcourt.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Dan Bature told Saturday Sun that the late Ajukwara was hired by the two suspects, Hassan Adamu and Abbas Yusuf to take them from Port Harcourt to Uyo in Akwa Ibom State during which they exchanged phone numbers.

He said on the day they were to embark on the trip, Ajukwara dropped the phone numbers of the suspects with her sister before they went on the trip to Uyo. On their way, the suspects allegedly attacked the victim.

The victim was allegedly shot in the head by Adamu while Yusuf used a shovel to hit him while trying to dispossess the deceased of his car on August 16. The suspects were accused of digging a shallow grave where they buried the butchered body of their victim before driving away his car.

The police boss, however, said that on their way, the suspects had an accident and took the car to a mechanic workshop to repair while the mechanic demanded N20,000 but Adamu paid only N10,000 for the panel beater to start the work.

It was learnt that the elder brother of the deceased, Jonathan Ajukwara later reported the case at Elimgbu Police Station before the case was transferred to the Anti-Kidnappers Squad.

The commander of the Police Squad, Edward Shadare confirmed that his team was able to arrest Adamu in September while the other suspect, Abbas Yusuf got into their trap in October.

He said it was Yusuf that took the police to the shallow grave where the late Ajukwara was buried, adding that the corpse was eventually exhumed after three months that the suspects had buried him.

“We had to contact the family of the deceased. We were also able to recover the car, a Passat ash colour car with registration number: YEW438CQ and we recovered arms and ammunition from them”, the police chief said.

Bature added that the family of the deceased had taken him for proper burial on October 29. In police custody, one of the suspects, Hassan Adamu toldSaturday Sun that they shot the deceased because he struggled with them when they tried dispossessing him of his car.

“It was during the process of waiting for the repair of the car that the police arrested me in September 2014 and after a month in detention, I had to confess and this led to the arrest of Abbas Yusuf in October”, Adamu added.

The police boss said the two suspects would be charged to court for kidnapping and murder.