22nd November, 2023
The corpse of John Soyinka, a 12-year-old who had been missing, was reportedly discovered at Kotogbo community within Asero Estate, Abeokuta, with some of his body parts missing on Monday.
The Punch reports that Soyinka was reportedly missing approximately a week ago, and the incident was brought to the attention of the Obantoko Police Station, Abeokuta.
A local resident, speaking anonymously, shared that the schoolboy went missing after attempting to visit a customer who had previously conducted a PoS transaction at a shop where the deceased often assisted.
The source revealed, “I know the boy very well, he is about 12 years old and he lived with his mother who I guessed is no longer with her husband. His mother is into menial jobs like helping people to sweep and the rest.
“The boy too was going to school but I also usually see him at a business centre where they do PoS operations and barbing, I think he must be assisting them there”.
Continuing, the source recounted, “What we heard was that, last week Thursday, he said he wanted to check on a customer who did a PoS transaction, apparently may be there was something to sort out about the transaction but the boy never came back.
“The boy and his mother lived at Olasunkanmi community and so the Community Development Association reported the matter to the Divisional Police Officer at Obantoko Station.
“The DPO informed the police at Adigbe and Lafenwa but it was the boy’s corpse that was found at Kotogbo community just beside Olasunkanmi on Monday. The two communities are inside Asero Estate, Abeokuta. It is suspected to be a case of ritual killing because the boy’s eyes were plucked while his wrists were also cut off. It’s an incident that has thrown residents into mourning.”