May 21st 2012
The suspected bomber arrested on Monday afternoon in Abuja, John Akpabu has claimed the explosives found in his possession belonged to his late brother.
Akpabu who is said to hail from Nasarawa state, was arrested by security operatives at the entrance to the Radio House, venue of the Ministerial Platform, with three live grenades and 37 rounds of ammunition.
According to him, he found the explosives among the belongings of his late brother, Aliyu Clement who was a corporal with the Mobile Police unit of Nigeria Police Force before his death.
“They transferred him to Bayelsa. When he died, I went to Bayelsa. He was living in Isepe in one local government in Bayelsa. My late elder brother’s name is Aliyu Clement.”
“He was serving in Bayelsa State. He came to see his family in Abuja but when he was returning he followed village [sic]. When he got there he fell sick and he died.”
Akpabu said: “We now send signal to Bayelsa which when we reach there they couldn’t get it. The signal stopped on the way. They now gave us another paper. I went there with the wife to bring his properties.”
The three grenades canisters and live ammunitions
Claiming benefits
The suspect, who said he was at the Radio House to claim the benefits of his late brother, revealed he heard of the ongoing Ministerial briefing on the radio.
“My mission here? I’m bringing this thing here because I found it in his property. When I went to go and pack the property down to Abuja, when we reach Abuja, as we were checking the property, we now saw these grenade and the bullets.”
He claimed that after consulting with the late brother’s wife on what to do with the items as they both don’t have license to keep them, they both decided that he should keep it “since I’m a man and anytime I feel like, I should take them to the police.”
“I’m bringing it here so that we can get his benefit for him. If I had taken it to the police, I might not get it. I am here because of the benefit I have not been paid.”
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How he was caught
One of the Mobile Police men who caught the suspect, said he was accosted and arrested at the entrance of the gate. This nullified the claim that the suspect was arrested within the premises of the event (Ministerial Platform).
“The suspect was just coming on his way to the Radio House. On approaching the gate, we started interrogating him. We asked him about what he has in the bag and he said he wanted to make a complain. I then said he should let me see the content of the bag but he was trying to resist.
The Police Officer, who declined to reveal his identity, said “I had to grab the bag. On opening it, we now saw three live grenades and 37 live ammunition.’
He said there was no gun and the report that another suspected bomber was arrested at another location earlier in the day was not confirmed.
The suspect has since been taken away for further interrogation. -DailyTrust