The Niger State Police Command has arrested a 26-year-old church security guard, Godwin Dauda, in connection with the death of an 11-year-old girl, Christabel Albert, whose body was found inside a well within a church premises in Suleja.
According to the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Wasiu Abiodun, the incident followed a missing-person report lodged at A Division, Suleja, on September 20, 2026, at about 12:30pm, after Christabel reportedly left home the previous day to attend a birthday ceremony of a relative within the area but failed to return.
Abiodun said that later that day, a pastor of the Apostolic Church, Suleja, reported to the police that a dead body had been discovered inside a well within the church premises.
Police operatives moved to the scene and, with the assistance of Local Government welfare officials, recovered the body and took it to General Hospital, Suleja, where the corpse was subsequently identified as that of the missing girl.
During the investigation, police detectives reportedly raised suspicion about Dauda, who was attached to the church as a security guard and had allegedly fled the premises following the incident.
The suspect was later arrested at about 8pm on September 23 around the Kuje area of the Federal Capital Territory, where he had reportedly gone into hiding.
Abiodun said the suspect confessed during interrogation that he lured the girl into his security room within the church premises on September 19, where he allegedly raped her, resulting in her death.
The police said Dauda further confessed that, in an attempt to conceal the crime, he dumped the girl’s body inside the well before fleeing the area.
The command said preliminary investigation is ongoing, adding that the suspect will soon be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Minna, for further investigation and diligent prosecution.
