Church Guard Arrested Over Alleged Rape, Killing of 11-Year-Old Girl in Niger
Police say suspect allegedly lured girl into security room before her body was found in church well
The Niger State Police Command has arrested a 26-year-old security guard, Godwin Dauda, over the alleged defilement and death of an 11-year-old girl in Suleja, Niger State. The police said the investigation began after a missing-person report was filed on September 20, following the girl’s disappearance after she left home to attend a relative’s birthday ceremony.
According to the command’s spokesperson, SP Wasiu Abiodun, a pastor of the Apostolic Church, Suleja, later alerted the police after a dead body was discovered inside a well on the church premises. Police officers and local government officials recovered the body and took it to the Suleja General Hospital, where it was identified as that of the missing girl.
The police said preliminary investigations led detectives to Dauda, who worked as a security guard at the church. Abiodun alleged that the suspect lured the girl into his security room on September 19, where he allegedly sexually assaulted her, after which she died. The suspect reportedly fled the area after the body was discovered.
Dauda was subsequently arrested at about 8 p.m. on September 23 in Kuje, Abuja, where police said he was hiding. The command said he allegedly confessed during interrogation and told investigators that he disposed of the girl’s body in the church well in an attempt to conceal the crime. The suspect is expected to be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Minna, as investigations continue.
