The
State Police Command has arrested two fleeing suspects, Farouk Mohammed and Jamiu Kasali, who murdered Pastor Babatunde Dada of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG on 6th Avenue, Festac Town.
The suspects, who claimed to be upcoming musicians, stabbed the 46-year-old pastor to death on December 2, 2021, and fled with his bag containing some money.
It was gathered that the suspects had approached the unsuspecting pastor on the pretext of being strangers in Lagos who had no place to stay.
The deceased lodged them in a room in the church which also served as his residence only to be attacked at about 12 noon the next day and abandoned in the pool of his blood to die.
It was further gathered that the suspects attended church service the Sunday before the incident, and also came out during an altar call to 'surrender their lives to Jesus'
The Commissioner of Police in Lagos, AIG Hakeem Odumosu, who confirmed the arrest, disclosed that Mohammed was tracked to Ilorin, Kwara State, while his partner in crime, Kasali, was apprehended in Festac Town, Lagos.
In an interview published by Vanguard, Kasali, said, “On the day we struck, the Pastor came to Church in morning, gave us money for food and left. Later, he came in with a bag containing money,"
"Few hours before then, Farouk got a telephone call from his mother, urging him to come home quickly that she was sick. We were contemplating on how he would get money to take his mother to the hospital when the Pastor walked in with the bag containing money.
"We followed him upstairs, hit him with a plank, before stabbing him with a broken bottle in the neck. He fell down. We grabbed the bag and left the house.
On his part, Mohammed, 15, said he lied to his parents that he was coming to Lagos for a show, being an incoming Musician.
"I lied to my mother that I would get at least, N200,000 from the show. We are upcoming musicians. We have been in the industry for three years. When things were not going on as planned, we decided to do something else , in order to invest in our music industry. My stage name is Zealight while Kasali’s J Fresh," he said.
"Our mission in Lagos was to look for where to perform. But that plan changed immediately we saw Pastor with the bag containing money." he added.
Meanwhile, Odumosu said the exhibits used to commit the act have been recovered, adding that the suspects would be charged to court.
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