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The Niger State Police Command has arrested a 26-year-old security guard, Godwin Dauda, over the alleged sexual assault and murder of an 11-year-old girl in Suleja, Niger State.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Wasiu Abiodun, disclosed the development during a media briefing on Friday in Minna, revealing that the suspect was apprehended in the Federal Capital Territory after fleeing the scene of the crime.
According to Abiodun, the victim was reported missing at the Suleja Police Division on September 20, after she failed to return home from a relative’s birthday celebration she attended on September 19 within the neighborhood.
The investigation took a critical turn when a pastor of the Apostolic Church in Suleja reported finding a corpse inside a well located on the church grounds.
Police operatives, alongside personnel from the Suleja Local Government Council, recovered the body and transported it to the Suleja General Hospital, where relatives positively identified the deceased as the missing 11-year-old girl.
Preliminary police investigations linked the crime to Godwin Dauda, who was employed as a security guard at the church premises where the girl’s body was discovered.
Abiodun stated that the suspect fled the area following the recovery of the body to evade law enforcement. However, police detectives tracked and arrested him in the Kuje area of the Federal Capital Territory at about 8:00 p.m. on September 23.
During interrogation, the suspect reportedly confessed to the crime, admitting to enticing the young girl into his security post on the church compound.
He also confessed to defiling the victim, stating that she died during the assault and in an attempt to cover up the crime, he dumped her body inside the church well.
The police spokesperson confirmed that the case is being transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in Minna for comprehensive investigation and subsequent prosecution.
The Command assured the public that justice will be served in line with established legal processes.
