The Police Command in Benue State says it has discovered some secret graves in the Kastina-Ala local government area of the state.
The discovery of the graves on Tuesday followed the arrest of two suspected bandits allegedly loyal to a gang leader Azonto, the second in command of the late warlord, Terwase Akwaza, popularly known as ‘Gana’.
It was gathered that the arrested criminals, Aondoaseer Terseer, also known as Bob Tsetse, and Orkashima David, popularly called Cash Money, were behind the murder of many innocent people in the state.
According to the police, Terseer and David were among those who have been terrorising the communities of Mbamon, Tavachan, Michiche Council ward among others in Katsina-Ala for years but fled the vicinity when security operatives began to close in on them.
The Chairman of Kastina-Ala, Alfred Atera, who confirmed the arrest of the suspects and the discovery of the graves, said they were arrested in Illesa in Osun State and brought back to Benue.
Atera said that the suspects led operatives and local government officials to graves where they had buried their victims.
“They (suspects) confessed to having killed nine people,” said Atera
“They led us to where they buried four people in a dry well; another two shallow graves and where they buried their wives.
“They were arrested in Illesa where they fled to after committing atrocities in Benue.
“They were brought in yesterday (Monday) by Operation Zenda led by CSP Gberindyer.”
One of the community leaders stated that the two suspects who are secondary school drop-outs, were members of a 10-man criminal syndicate that led security operatives to the place where they found six decomposed human bodies, including three males and three females, among them their wives who they eliminated between January and April 2021 respectively.
The community leader gave the names of some of the dead persons exhumed from the dry wells as John Nyitamen, Catherine Akiishi and Aondover Fidelis.
The suspects also confessed killing their wives with Bob Tsetse, narrating that his wife died after a wood he threw at her pierced her neck mistakenly during a quarrel while the other, Cash Money, explained that his father instigated him to kill his wife because she was plotting to set his house ablaze.
Cash Money confessed to having got rid of his wife with the help of his two other gang members who also assisted him to bury the woman in a shallow grave.
The state Police Public Relations Officer ( PPRO), DSP Catherine Anene, who confirmed the development, however, said she was yet to get details of the matter as the operatives were still at the scene of the crime.