Tobias Sylvester
Niger State Police Command has arrested a landlord and his gateman for allegedly killing a four-year-old boy and removing his private part for ritual in Lapai Local Government Area of the state.
Police Arrest Landlord And Gatemen For Ritual
The command spokesperson, DSP Abiodun Wasiu, in a statement on Saturday, said the suspect identified as Emmanuel who is a building materials trader had connived with his gateman to kidnap the child and kill him.
Wasiu explained that the suspects were rescued from being lynched by an angry mob after the remains of the boy, who had been missing for four days, were discovered.
An eyewitness said the two suspects allegedly killed the child and removed his vital organs, including his private parts, eyes, ears and heart, while his remains were put in the sack for the gateman, whose identity was unknown, to dispose of.
“The gateman entered a motorcycle to a stream where he was to dispose of the remains, but on dropping the gateman the motorcyclist noticed blood dripping from the sack. The commercial motorcyclist alerted the bystanders and police,” the eyewitness said.
The Police then arrested the suspect who allegedly confessed that he was sent by his landlord to dump the body; saying that they were responsible for kidnapping the boy who had been declared missing for some days.
One of the residents around the area, Mr Abdullahi Musa, said that they never knew Emmanuel was a ritual killer, saying that he was lucky the crowd which had gathered did not get him first before the police came.
“There are evil men in every community, Emmanuel is one of them. We have set his house on fire. We wish he was the one we got, we would have killed him,” he said.
Another resident, Mrs Maryam Kwambo, said: “Since the creation of Lapai local government area, we’ve never encountered such a radical and wicked situation as today.
“We will get to the roots of this. We will get justice for the child he killed. Just four days ago, we heard information about the missing child and no one could give an account of his whereabouts.
“Only to discover that Emmanuel had him all this time and he killed him. This matter should be handled properly. We seek justice.”
The police spokesman confirmed that investigations had commenced into the incident, adding that justice would be served while warning the public against mob action.
KanyiDaily recalls that an Islamic cleric had also narrated how he and his friend killed his former lover and severed her body parts for rituals in Osun State.
