13th September, 2011
A barber in Badagry, Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria, Jimoh Wheto, 23, has been remanded in prison custody for beheading a 14-year old boy, Rasheed Suleiman.
The barber was said to have committed the offence at a shopping complex in Badagry.
Wheto said it was like he was under some kind of spell when he picked up a cutlass and cut off the deceased’s head without any hesitation whatsoever.
He was arrested and arraigned before an Ebute-Meta Magistrate’s Court on a one count charge of unlawful killing, which according to the prosecuting police officer, Inspector Ajala Ibeh, is punishable under Section 319(1) of the Criminal Code, Cap C17, vol. ii, laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2003.
The charge reads: “That you Jimoh Wheto on 21 June, 2011 at about 6.45 pm at Kaolux Shopping Plaza, Badagry, Lagos in the Lagos Magisterial District did unlawfully kill one Rasheed Suleiman, aged 14-year by cutting off his head with a machete and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 391(1) of the Criminal Code, Cap. C17, vol. ii,. laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2003.â€
The presiding magistrate, Mr. T. Olatunji, ordered that the barber be remanded in Ikoyi Prisons and that the case file be duplicated and sent to the Directorate of Public Prosecution, DPP, for advice.
The matter has been adjourned till 10 October, 2011 pending the outcome of the DPP’s advice.
—Paul Sanusi