By
Gloria Josiah
The Niger State Police Command has arrested a 26-year-old security guard attached to a church, Godwin Dauda, over the death of an 11-year-old girl, Christabel Albert, whose body was discovered inside a well within a church compound in Suleja.
The Police Public Relations Officer of the Command, SP Wasiu Abiodun, disclosed this in a statement on the incident.
According to the police, the case began as a missing person report filed at A Division, Suleja, on September 20, 2026, around 12:30 pm. The family reported that Christabel left home on September 19 to attend a relative’s birthday party in the area and did not return.
Later that same day, a pastor of The Apostolic Church, Suleja, reported to the police that a corpse was found inside a well on the church premises.
Operatives were deployed to the scene and, with the help of officials from the Local Government welfare department, recovered the body. It was taken to the General Hospital, Suleja, where it was identified as that of the missing girl.
Police said suspicion fell on the church security guard, who had allegedly absconded shortly after the discovery.
The suspect was tracked and arrested at about 8 pm on September 23 in the Kuje area of the Federal Capital Territory, where he was said to be hiding.
Abiodun stated that during interrogation, the suspect allegedly confessed to luring the victim into his security post inside the church premises on September 19 and sexually assaulting her, which led to her death.
He was also alleged to have confessed that he dumped her body inside the well in a bid to cover up the act before fleeing the area.
The police noted that preliminary investigation is ongoing and the suspect will be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, in Minna for further investigation and prosecution.
