The Kano State Police command has nabbed a 25-year-old man, Salisu Idris, for allegedly setting fire on a house to kill its three occupants because he was promised the sum of N200 thousand.
The house belonged to Aminu Bala, a 50-year old who was in the fire alongside his wife, Rukayya, and two-year-old daughter, Aisha.
The suspect, in conspiracy with two others who are now at large, reportedly locked the house before setting it on fire, having confirmed that his targets were inside.
DAILY NIGERIAN reports that the incident occurred on Wednesday.
While parading the suspect before newsmen, the command’s spokesman, Abdullahi Haruna said he (the suspect) was tracked down and arrested at his hideout in Minjibir Local Government Area by the operatives of Operation Puff-Adder.
Mr Haruna said after receiving the report, the operatives swung in to action on the order of the Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, and the suspect was later nabbed with various degree of collateral burns on his body, signifying his clear involvement in the arson attack.
Speaking to newsmen, the suspect who sells mobile phones at Farm Centre GSM market, confessed that he was promised the sum of N200,000 by a “business friend” of the deceased, who sells poultry feeds at Sabon Gari market, Kano, to burn him and his family members to death.
“I have never committed such a crime. I was offered N200,000. I did not even know the man. I just accepted the contract through my friend. He just told me that the man is selling poultry feeds at Sabon Gari market and promised to give us the money if we successfully accomplish the mission.
“I sustained this burns because he asked me to pour petroleum on the building. After he lit the matches, the fire swiftly caught me before we ran away. I did not lock up the doors of the house and I did not see my friend doing so during the attack.
“I really regret my action. I am pleasing for mercy,” the suspect confessed.
Mr Haruna vowed to nab the man that sponsored the arson and the other suspect within a short period of time, stressing that they would face the wrath of the law.
