Politics
Suspected killers of UNIJOS student recount events preceding
SUSPECTS arrested over the killing of Ibrahim Mabaye, a University of Jos (UNIJOS) student, have recounted how they allegedly tortured the 25-year-old after accusing him of stealing an iPhone 12.
Speaking while being paraded alongside other suspects by the Plateau State Police Command on Wednesday, Rinji Daniel, the alleged owner of the missing phone, said Ibrahim Mabaye, a Political Science student, had spent the night in his apartment after they returned from an event.
According to Daniel, Mabaye later stepped outside to answer a phone call but never returned.
“He did not come back on time and I slept off after waiting for him and I didn’t see him. My brother was already charging my phone and my brother’s power bank was charging.
”Then I woke up around 4am and saw that it was only the two of us that were sleeping. I didn’t see the deceased on the bed and on the ground. Why checking I discovered my phone and my brother’s power bank were missing,” he said.
Daniel said he searched the apartment and surrounding area before repeatedly calling Mabaye’s phone.
He added that the calls initially went unanswered until Mabaye briefly answered a call placed from another person’s phone before disconnecting it.
Unable to locate either Mabaye or the missing items, Daniel said he informed his cousin, a decision that eventually led to the confrontation with the student.
One of the suspects, Emmanuel Newyear, identified as Daniel’s cousin, admitted that he confronted Mabaye after learning about the missing phone.
According to him, Mabaye allegedly gave different accounts of where the device could be found, prompting them to search multiple locations without success.
“When we interrogated him, he told us the phone was at the Naraguta hostel beside a tree but we checked and we didn’t see it.
“He later told us that the phone was at Rayfield and we went there but didn’t see it. We all returned to the hostel. People had already gathered at the compound,” Newyear said.
Newyear admitted striking Mabaye with a wooden plank during the confrontation, saying he wanted him to reveal the phone’s location.
“I was the one that hit him with a plank three times. I hit him with plank before taking him inside to change his clothes and look for the phone I also slapped him inside the room… I hit him because I wantes him to tell me where the phone, iPhone 12 Pro was.” he narrated.
When asked what was his relationships with the deceased, he said he knew him through his cousin’s brother.
Another suspect, Teslor Joshua, acknowledged helping to restrain the victim but denied taking part in the beating.
“I only participated in holding his legs when they were tying him. Thas was my involvement,” Joshua said.
The ICIR reported that Mabaye was attacked on Sunday, July 26, in the Ring Road area of Jos North Local Government Area after he was accused of stealing an iPhone 12.
The Plateau State Police Command’s spokesperson, Alfred Alabo, while providing an account of the incident, said some of Mabaye’s colleagues later rescued him and rushed him to the Jos University Teaching Hospital, where doctors confirmed him dead on arrival.
The incident immediately sparked widespread condemnation, with many Nigerians describing the killing as another case of mob justice and calling for those responsible to be prosecuted.
The police subsequently arrested four suspects in connection with the incident and said investigations were ongoing.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M