By Yusufu Aminu Idegu | Jos, Plateau State
The Jos High Court on Wednesday heard chilling details of how the late Major General Idris Alkali (rtd) — who went missing in 2018 — was murdered and secretly buried by his killers in Dura-Du village, Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State.
Testifying before the court, Major General Umaru Ibrahim Muhammed (rtd), who led the Nigerian Army’s search and rescue operation following Alkali’s disappearance, recounted the horrifying circumstances surrounding the senior officer’s death and the subsequent discovery of his remains.
According to Gen. Muhammed, the late Alkali was travelling from Abuja to Bauchi when he was declared missing on September 3, 2018. “He left Abuja for Bauchi en route Jos, and his last known contact was traced to Dura-Du village. From that point, his phone went off and he was never heard from again,” he said.
As the then Garrison Commander of the 3 Division, Nigerian Army, Muhammed was directed to lead a special task force to locate Alkali — dead or alive — recover his missing vehicle, a black Toyota Corolla with registration number MUN 679 AA, and identify those responsible for his disappearance.
“I was given one Major General and 30 soldiers to carry out the task. We searched all hospitals and police stations without result. Through MTN data, we discovered his phone was switched off in Dura-Du village. That’s where we focused our search,” Muhammed told the court.
The operation, he said, met stiff resistance from locals who mobilised over 500 women to protest against the army’s search of a mining pond in the village. Despite the protest, the military persisted. “After two weeks of pumping out water from the pond, we discovered Gen Alkali’s Toyota Corolla on September 29, 2018. Inside were his uniform, shoes, and cap bearing his name,” he revealed.
The pond, which later became notorious as a dumping site for victims and vehicles, yielded more shocking discoveries. On October 1, 2018, the search team found a bus belonging to a driver who had been declared missing seven years earlier, a red Rover car linked to another missing man, as well as a tipper lorry, tricycles, and motorcycles.
Following the recovery of the vehicle, the team intensified its intelligence work and arrested a suspect who led them to a shallow grave where the remains of Gen Alkali were initially buried. “We were told that after killing him, they dragged his body around the village before burying him in a location called ‘No Man’s Land’,” Muhammed narrated.
However, by the time the team got there with army sniffer dogs, the killers had already moved the corpse. Subsequent intelligence revealed that the suspects had engaged a mortician to exhume and repackage the remains into two bags, which were later dumped in Buchwet village, about 10 kilometres away. The decomposed body was finally recovered on October 30, 2018.
To verify the identity, a pathologist was engaged to conduct a forensic examination. “The pathologist reconstructed the body and confirmed that the skull had been split in two, with other parts dismembered. It was clear that Gen Alkali was brutally murdered,” Muhammed told the court. The forensic findings were further corroborated through x-rays provided by Alkali’s widow and sand samples collected from the original grave site.
A second witness, Major Arashinga Bulus, who served in Abuja at the time, also testified, confirming the arrest of 21 suspects allegedly linked to the crime.
Following the testimony of the two key witnesses, the presiding judge adjourned the case to November 6, 2025, for continuation of hearing and the presentation of additional witnesses.
The killing of Major General Idris Alkali, who served as the former Chief of Administration (Army), remains one of the most gruesome cases of extrajudicial violence in Plateau State — a stark reminder, as observers describe, of “the evil that lurks within the heart of man.”
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