Ritual Killing: Girl, 9, Beheaded, Student Rescued

Jimoh, the suspected kidnapper.

•Jimoh, the suspected kidnapper.

The Tata community near Ijoun in Yewa North Local Government area of Ogun State, South-west Nigeria, was on Monday thrown into mourning when people suspected to be ritualists beheaded a nine-year old girl, Taiwo Ajibode.

•Jimoh, the suspected kidnapper.

P.M.NEWS gathered that Mr. Sola Ajibode, his wife, Mrs. Abosede Ajibode and their three children, Taiwo, Kehinde and Bukola Ajibode were on a visit to their aged grandmother, Madam Ashande Ase when the incident happened.

Investigations revealed that Mr. Ajibode’s mother-in-law, Madam Ashande, 86, went to the night market at about 8 p.m on Monday night to buy food that her grand children wanted to eat.

Family sources further disclosed that while the grandma was away, their father, Sola Ajibode was sleeping inside the old woman’s room with the other two children. But the late Taiwo was sleeping beside her mother on a mat at the backyard and when Madam Ashande returned with the food, Taiwo was no longer by her mother’s side. She had been taken away by unidentified persons.

A search party was organised. Assisted by the town’s vigilance group, the search team combed the nooks and crannies of Tata village to no avail.

The late Taiwo’s mother, Mrs. Ajibode, disclosed that, on Tuesday morning, she decided to revisit areas they had searched on Monday night. Then the shocking revelation.

“Inside a cassava farm, about 50 metres to my mother’s residence, I saw the headless body of Taiwo. And sympathisers besieged the location immediately. They expressed surprise that the headless body could be found in that farm where people had searched endlessly,” Mrs. Ajibode narrated.

A community leader, Chief Moses, the Akogun of Tata reported the matter at the Igan Alade Police Station and the policemen visited the scene and took away the corpse.

The parents of the girl, community leaders and members of Tata vigilance group went to the police station to assist in the investigation. But Mr. and Mrs. Ajibode pleaded that the corpse of their child should be released to them for burial, saying they were not interested in any case.

After signing an undertaking, the police at Igan Alade Station released the corpse of Taiwo to her parents.

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But the majority of the Tata residents thought otherwise. They preferred a thorough investigation into the incident, claiming it was a strange and unusual incident in the village.

A community leader, Chief Adisa Fasina said he could not recollect such an incident happening in the community in recent years.

Meanwhile, an SS1 student simply identified as Sunday has been rescued from kidnappers in Lagos.

Sunday

One of the suspects arrested in connection with the incident gave his name as Bashiru Jimoh. He boarded the same bus with his other accomplice along with the student from Berger to Ikeja bus stop and they all sat at the back seat.

An elderly man in his 60s, Alhaji Yinusa Aremu said he saw Jimoh sprinkle a white powder on the student and he became unconscious.

Luck ran out on the suspects at Ipodo area of Ikeja when the elderly man who was monitoring them shouted “thief! thief!! thief!!!” and one of the suspects was arrested and the other escaped.

According to Alhaji Aremu, “I was coming from Akure and at Berger Bus stop, I entered a bus going to Ikeja. I sat in the middle seat while this student was at the centre of these men at the back seat. I thought they were together when suddenly I just looked back and I saw this suspect spray white powder on the boy. I wanted to shout but I was afraid, thinking that all other passengers were members of the gang.

“When we all dropped off the bus at Ipodo, the school boy was too weak to move, so these men held his hands and I summoned the courage to shout ‘thief! thief!!’ and this one was arrested while the other escaped.”

After the suspect was arrested, he was beaten silly by the people and he said: “the student is my friend, I am taking him to his mother in Festac,” but when he was about to be set ablaze he confessed: “he is not my friend, we met in the bus and I sprayed white powder on him because we sat close to him believing that we would be able to get better ransom money if we succeeded in kidnapping him. We have been doing it for over three years. My partner who ran away was with the powder.”

The sum of N300,000 and two phones were found on him, which he claimed belonged to the student. He also claimed that he gave N50,000 to the other suspect who escaped.

The student, who regained consciousness after about four hours, managed to mention that his name is Sunday and that he is an SS 1 student.

The suspect was later taken away to Area F Police Division, Ikeja, where the incident is being investigated.

—Oluwole Adeboye & Adefemi Omoniyi/Tata

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