Missing General: Police Declare District Head, Seven Others Wanted

The Plateau State Police Command has declared the District Head of Dura Du Village in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State and seven others wanted in connection with the disappearance of Major General Idris Alkali (retd).

According to a statement by the Public Relations Officer of the command, Tyopev Mathias, the suspects were declared wanted following preliminary investigations indicating that they masterminded the abduction, assault and caused the disappearance of the retired army officer.

Major General Alkali, a former chief of administration at the army headquarters, has been missing since September 3, 2018.

He went missing while travelling to Bauchi State from Abuja in a black Toyota Corolla.

In reaction to the development, the Nigerian Army started a search and rescue operation and troops from the 3 Division had been deployed to Dura Du village.

Commander of the division and leader of the search mission, Brigadier-General Umar Mohammed, told Channels Television on September 20 that preliminary investigation showed that the missing officer’s vehicle was seen close to a pond in the area.

Nine days later, the army found the vehicle in the pond. When it was pulled out, some items belonging to the major general were found but he wasn’t in the vehicle.

On October 2, two other vehicles were found in the pond; a white Toyota Hiace bus with registration number PLATEAU RYM 307 XA which was reported missing with the driver on 24 June 2018 and a red Rover car with registration number BAUCHI AG 645 TRR which was also allegedly reported to have been buried along with the occupants on 31 January 2013.

The next day, the army arrested over 30 persons in connection with the major general’s disappearance and called on “the entire good and peace loving people of Plateau State and most importantly the people of Dura–Du District to come forward and give credible information about the whereabouts of the missing retired senior officer”.

More than three weeks after, the search to unravel the truth about what happened to the major general continues.