The Federal Capital Territory Police Command has arrested a married woman after her alleged lover was found dead and his body later dumped under a bridge in Abuja.
The woman, identified as Mrs Rukayat Muhammed of Garki Area 2, was allegedly in a romantic relationship with the deceased and had reportedly saved his contact as “Safiyat” on her phone.
According to the FCT Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Sanusi, investigators were led to Muhammed after the deceased’s mobile phone was reported missing. Although the phone had been switched off, detectives traced his last known communication to her.
The police said Muhammed and the deceased had lodged at Good Samaritan Guest House in Gwarimpa. The commissioner said she allegedly discovered that the man was no longer breathing but left the hotel with his phone without reporting the incident to the police.
Hours later, hotel workers reportedly gained access to the room after attempts to contact the occupants failed and discovered the man’s body.
Rather than contacting the police, two hotel workers, identified as Ibrahim Omeiza and Kefat Bitrus, allegedly removed the body from the hotel and transported it to the Kubwa Expressway area by Katampe, where they dumped it under a bridge.
The discovery of the body on August 26 had initially generated speculation about kidnapping and “one-chance” robbery. Police investigations later established that the deceased was the same man whose family had earlier reported him missing.
The police, however, stressed that the exact cause and circumstances of the man’s death have not yet been established. Investigations are ongoing to determine what happened before his death and the roles, if any, played by those arrested.
The FCT Police Command said anyone found to have been involved in the man’s death or in the concealment and abandonment of his body, would face the law.