Police still investigating Kubwa pastor’s murder

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command of the Nigeria Police said investigation into last year’s murder of a pastor with the Redeem Christian Church of God (RCCG), Abuja, Eunice Elisha, is still on going, despite the release of some people earlier arrested for the murder.

Elisha was murdered by unknown assailants in July last year, while carrying out her routine evangelism in the wee hours of the day around Kubwa, a suburb of Abuja.

The police arrested some suspects following local and international outcry. But following a report that the suspects had been released, as against being charged to court, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the command, Anjuguri Manza said: “The police would never close an unresolved murder case. We are still investigating and when we get the real culprits, we’ll let you know.”

Asked if the suspects arrested in July 2016 were actually released as alleged, he simply retorted, “please, we are still investigating the matter.”

But another police source told The Guardian that the freed persons were randomly picked, within the precinct where the incident happened, even though there was no concrete evidence against them that they were connected to the murder.

“The police usually do this, the first suspect in a murder case is the person found at or near the scene, investigation would either exonerate or implicate the suspect. In this case, however, those arrested were exonerated, as there was nothing really concrete to tie them to the murder.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Christian Youths in the FCT, and other interest groups have on several occasions demanded justice for Elisha, whose death was seen by many as another ploy to halt the propagation of Christianity.