By: Pentho Goldmark The Niger State Police Command has confirmed the arrest of seven suspects in connection with the gruesome killing of 2...
By: Pentho Goldmark
The Niger State Police Command has confirmed the arrest of seven suspects in connection with the gruesome killing of 23-year-old Abdulwahab Jafar, a student of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai (IBBUL).
Jafar was attacked and killed at his off-campus lodge in Lapai on June 23, 2025, an incident that sparked unrest within the school community and forced the deployment of police tactical teams to restore peace.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, the command’s spokesperson, SP Wasiu Abiodun, explained that a combined effort of the Tactical Support Team and the Force Intelligence Department initially led to the arrest of 19 suspects across Lapai and other parts of Niger State. After weeks of investigation, the police narrowed their findings to seven key suspects.
The suspects, identified as Idris Hamza, Suleiman Damilare, Abdulsemiu Bashir, Bawa Aliyu, Yakubu Musa, Samson Abbah, and Solomon Musa, were arrested at different times between June and August. Abiodun said they confessed to being members of the Neo Black Movement of Africa (NBM) and admitted to engaging in violent cult activities within the university.
He explained that Idris Hamza and Suleiman Damilare were picked up on June 27 with cannabis, charms, and a Toyota Corolla during a raid in Fadikpe. Abdulsemiu Bashir, said to be a rival cultist belonging to the Vikings, was arrested at a motor park in Lapai with 16 SIM cards, a POS machine, and ₦77,000 believed to have been obtained from stolen phones. Another suspect, Yakubu Musa, also known as PYPA, was arrested on August 14. He confessed to participating in attacks on students and robberies at lodges, which were used to finance cult dues and internet fraud.
The police also disclosed that Samson Abbah, nicknamed Small, had been a member of NBM since 2015 and once served as the administrator of the group’s WhatsApp platform, which was disguised as a football news chat but was used to plan cult operations. His associate, Solomon Musa, also called Cabella, was said to have been involved in a failed attempt to attack another student in August, during which the suspects vandalized the student’s apartment.
According to Abiodun, the investigation confirmed that Jafar’s murder was cult-related, though efforts are still ongoing to determine whether members of the NBM or their rivals, the Vikings, were directly responsible for his killing. He assured that the command is intensifying its efforts to bring all those involved to justice.
The killing of Jafar has left deep scars on the IBBUL community, with students and parents alike expressing fear and anger while calling on security agencies to take tougher action against the rising tide of cultism in Nigerian universities.
Photo credit: Linda Ikeji's Blog
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