Date: 2016-08-16

The Kwara State police command has confirmed the arrest of three suspected criminals, including father and son, over the death of a member of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Dr Tunde Abdulrahman, in Ilorin.

Speaking with journalists in Ilorin, on Monday, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ajayi Okasanmi, said the command had commenced interrogation of the suspects, said to include a security guard and the father to lead suspect. It will be recalled that the state chapter of the NMA had declared Dr Abdulrahman missing two weeks ago.

The police spokesperson said the medical doctor who worked at Omu Aran General Hospital, was killed by his assailants in his father's residence in Ilorin, at about 1:00 a.m on July 24, 2016, the day he was declared missing.

Okasanmi said the leader of the suspected three-man gang, Jamiu Mohammed, said to be an ex-convict, went into the room of the deceased with his members and macheted him to death.

It was also gathered that the suspects put the corpse of the medical doctor in the booth of his own car, Toyota Corolla, and took it to an unknown destination. The PPRO said two phones belonging to the late medical doctor, tracked and found on the suspects, led to their arrest by the police.

The investigations also revealed that the father of the lead suspect, a Beninoise, feigned ignorance about the death of the medical doctor until detectives discovered his involvement in the dastardly act. The deceased who was aged 34, had concluded plans to get married on August 13, 2016 before being murdered.

Investigation also revealed that the lead suspect and his family had lived in the residence of the deceased's father for over 10 years, and that the lead suspect had secret plans to avenge his mother's death, who allegedly died of cholera. It was said the lead suspect was unhappy over his mother's death, which he traced to the deceased doctor.

Meanwhile, facts have emerged that Dr Abdulrahman's family borne the financial expenses of the woman's burial rites. The deceased's Toyota Corolla car, however, was said to have been driven by a person on Challenge area of Ilorin said to be on the run, at the weekend.