Police arrest suspected hit and run driver over Tordue Salem Death

The Nigeria Police Force has arrested a commercial driver, Itoro Clement, suspected to be responsible for the death of a Vanguard reporter, Tordue Salem.

Salem who was covering the House of Representatives was last seen between the hours of 8 and 9 pm on Wednesday, October 13, 2021, after he closed from work.

He was said to have alighted from a cab at Total filling station, close to the Force headquarters, and headed for B.J’s garden, in the company of a female relative.

Thereafter, he reportedly flagged a cab for the lady who left before him, informing her that he was going to Area 8, Garki. But he was never seen until his remains were recovered on Thursday.

The police have now paraded a suspect, who is said to be responsible for his death.

Parading the suspect before newsmen at the force headquarters in Abuja on Friday, November 12, the spokesperson of the force, Frank Mba, said Clement was arrested following an investigation carried out by the Force Intelligence Bureau. According to Mba, Clement who was driving a 2004 Model Camry with number plate BWR 243 BK confessed to having hit Tordue at about 10:00 pm on the night of 13th October 2021, around Mabushi area in Abuja after which he ran away. According to Mba, the police swung into action shortly after Tordue was declared missing and a major breakthrough was made after Tordue’s phone was found at a motorpark in Abuja.

When interrogated, Clement said he was driving when he knocked the deceased down. He mentioned that he did not stop to check his victim for fear he might be attacked as the area was notorious for criminal activities.

“I thought it was an armed robber that I knocked down until the following day when I saw a smashed phone on my windscreen. The phone was not working again so I threw it away.”he said

Explaining why he did not wait after the accident; Clement claimed that the area where the incident occurred is notorious for criminal activities.

“The place I knocked this person down, is a criminal place everybody knows that place,” he said.

He said after the accident, he met some police officers at a checkpoint and told them what happened. He said the police officers advised him to report the matter at the Wuse police station but he never did.