Niger Police Arrest Church Guard After Girl Found in Well

Police in Niger State have arrested church security guard Godwin Dauda in connection with the death of an 11-year-old girl whose body was recovered from a well at the Apostolic Church in Suleja, police spokesperson Wasiu Abiodun said. Authorities said the investigation is continuing, and the allegations against Dauda have not been independently established in the information available. Abiodun said the girl left home on September 19 to attend a relative’s birthday ceremony in the area and did not return. Her disappearance was reported to police on September 20. A pastor at the church later alerted authorities after a body was found in a well on the premises, Abiodun said. Police officers and Suleja local government officials went to the scene and recovered the body, according to the spokesperson. It was taken to Suleja General Hospital, where it was identified as the missing girl. One report identified her as Christabel Albert; police accounts cited in the other reports did not provide her name. Abiodun said Dauda, 26, worked as a security guard at the church and was arrested around Kuje in the Federal Capital Territory at about 8 p.m. on September 23.