The police in Kano are investigating a social media influencer for his alleged role in the murder of a colleague after a prolonged dispute over money.
Sadiq Jibrin Gadah, known well on Twitter (now X) for his acerbic vitriol against opposition political commentators online, reportedly killed Bello Bukar Adamu for pestering him over N3 million. The money was said to have been paid to Mr Gadah after he promised to help Mr Adamu secure a high-paying job at the Federal Inland Revenue Service.
Officials said Messrs Gadah and Adamu were colleagues at Kano Electricity Distribution Company. A spokesperson for the disco did not immediately return a request for comments about the incident.
Police spokesman Abdullahi Haruna Kyawa told Peoples Gazette that when Mr Gadah failed to deliver on his promise, Mr Adamu started mounting pressure. Unable to tolerate the pressure further, Mr Gadah arranged to have Mr Adamu killed, silencing him forever before he could raise the scam at work or elsewhere.
Mr Adamu was reportedly lured to a remote part of the commercial city, where he was bludgeoned to death with a pestle. Mr Gadah was arrested after a prolonged investigation into the matter, and a video said to have been recorded on May 5, 2024, showed him with a severe wound on one of his fingers, allegedly beaten by the deceased during the struggle.
The video also showed Mr Gadah holding the pestle said to have been used to commit the murder while standing in handcuffs by the victim’s vehicle recovered near the crime scene.
In the recorded video, Mr Gadah, speaking in Hausa, fessed up to his role in the homicide and acknowledged its consequences. He said he was ready to drink poison and die by suicide to save his family from the mess emanating from the chaos.
It was not immediately clear whether the suspect had contacted a lawyer. The police spokesperson said Mr Gadah would be arraigned upon conclusion of a preliminary inquiry into the matter.
Law enforcement officials have recently warned that raging economic hardships could trigger another wave of unlawful activity. Armed banditry and kidnap-for-ransom have put Kano and other cities across the northwest on the edge in recent months.
But Mr Kyawa said Mr Gadah’s matter was being treated as a crime of opportunity because had had a good job with the region’s main power distributor.
