The Nigeria Police Force (NPF), has arrested Yusuf Ismael
Isah, a 32-year-old man from Okene, Kogi State, for attacking the convoy of
fiery cleric, Apostle Johnson Suleman.
The cleric, who is the founder of Omega Fire Ministries
Worldwide, Auchi, was attacked on October 21, 2022 on Benin-Auchi Road, wherein
six people, including three police personnel were murdered.
The suspect was arrested following an investigation by the
operatives of FIB-IRT who were on the trail of the assailants.
Two members of the seven-man gang were gunned down in
separate encounters with the police and the other four are at large.
Isah, a native of Okene, Kogi State and a plumber, at
Agbaraoluwa Phase 2 Ijoka, Akure, Ondo State was arrested with five Ak47
rifles, two K2 assault rifles, 180 live ammunition and four suspected IEDs all
found in his apartment.
Force public relations officer (FPRO), CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi
said investigations revealed that the suspect was part of the 7-man gang
responsible for the attack on the convoy of the Apostle and some of the rifles
found in his possession were in fact rifles snatched from the three police
officers slain during the October 21, 2022 attack.
The suspect revealed to journalists that he joined the
vicious gang in 2021 after he was freed from Olokuta Correctional Centre where
he was on remand since 2019 for alleged involvement in armed robbery.
Isah told journalists that he and his gang members trailed
the pastor to the point where he was attacked with five AK 47 riffles.
He said, “The attack on him (Suleman) was to assassinate
him. I was not part of the discussion; Ilayasu and Labisca were the ones
involved in the discussion.
He, however, insisted that he didn’t know the person that
ordered the assassination of Suleman.
The suspect also said the group specialises in kidnapping
for ransom and have carried out about four kidnapping operations between 2021
and 2023, including the attack on the convoy of the Apostle, before the gang
was eventually busted by the Police.
The suspect also confessed that the gang was responsible for
the kidnap of a popular oil dealer at Jetu, Auchi in 2022, where they obtained
a ransom of about N70 million before his release.
The gang equally carried out the kidnap of a business man on
Benin-Agbor Expressway in 2022 and collected N20 million as ransom from the
victim’s family.
Their last attempt at kidnapping after the failed attack on Apostle
Suleman was on Owo-Ikare Road where they were heavily engaged and repelled by
the police escort accompanying their target.
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