…angry mob b#rns man found with victims’ heads

A 70-year-old man, Mr Aghanti, and his daughter, Mrs Atagoshi, 50, were reportedly beh3aded over a land dispute in the Amai community, Ukwuani Local Government Area of Delta State.

It was gathered that Mrs Atagoshi, a secondary school teacher and a pastor’s wife, had earlier purchased a piece of land in the community, which some individuals subsequently claimed.

Spokesperson of the State Police Command, DSP Bright Edafe, who confirmed the incident said that the assailant lured the victims into the bush under the pretext of discussing the land issue and beheaded them.

“The suspect called the woman, saying he wanted to discuss the land issue. He then took her and her father into the bush, killed them, and beheaded them,” the PPRO said.

“On the same day, vigilantes apprehended one Emeke with two human heads. He was mobbed and set ablaze by angry residents. Upon inspection, it was discovered that the human heads belonged to the father and daughter.

“Their headless bodies were found in the bush.”

Edafe added that the main suspect is currently on the run, while efforts are ongoing to arrest him.

The Ondo state police command has arrested three suspects over kidnapping and child trafficking allegations.

Addressing journalists in Akure, the Ondo capital, on Saturday, Wilfred Afolabi, commissioner of police, said 14 children between the ages of one week and seven years were rescued.

The suspects were identified as Lukman Isiaka, 42; Abosede Olanipekun; and Sabira Izuorah, 62.

The arrests followed a report by a mother whose 18-month-old child was abducted in Akure.

“A case of a missing child was reported at Okuta Elerin-Nla division in Akure. A complainant reported that a man, Samuel Adejobi (real name: Lukman Isiaka, m age, 42 years), and a woman, Ewatomi (real name: Abosede Olanipekun), came to her shop pretending to be siblings to eat,” the police commissioner said.

“While playing with the complainant’s child, Abosede deceived her by claiming she wanted to buy biscuits for the baby.

Meanwhile, Lukman distracted the complainant by engaging her in a personal conversation and requested she followed him to Olukayode Plaza in the market to get a mobile phone.

“On getting to the market area, he abandoned her and left.

On getting back to the shop, the complainant discovered that her child was missing with no trace of Abosede the supposed sister of the man she followed to the market, thus a report was made at the division.”

Investigations led the police to Ottah Village in Edo state, where Isiaka and Olanipekun were apprehended.

During interrogation, Afolabi said the suspects confessed to abducting children from Ondo and Osun states and selling them to one Sabira Izuorah in Ihiala, Anambra state, for N1 million per child.

Subsequently, Izuorah was arrested in Ihiala, and four infants were recovered from her residence.

The rescued babies were identified as “Baby Favour, three weeks old; Baby Chidera, two weeks old; Baby Chinyere, two months and five days old; and Baby Uzoma, one week old”.

The police commissioner added that on January 14, ten children sold by Izuorah were rescued from various locations. These children have been reunited with their families.

Afolabi said some children remain unaccounted for and assured that efforts are ongoing to locate and rescue them.

The people of Ugama village in the Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State are in fear after some individuals, suspected to be cattle rustlers, launched an attack involving ritual killings and theft of property on Thursday.

Reports indicate that the attackers are Fulani from Ugama village. Eyewitnesses have confirmed that at least 20 people were slaughtered, while many others were injured.

Malam Yusufa Ugama, a resident who narrowly escaped the attack, stated that after the ritual killings, some of the assailants attacked the village and set it on fire. He also mentioned that the village’s livestock was stolen.

The motive for the attack remains unclear, but Yusufa explained, “We saw people armed with guns, machetes, and knives, and they were calling themselves cattle rustlers.”

A source also revealed that there had been a dispute between the villagers and their chief, whose name was not disclosed, over the sale of village farmland.

The Public Relations Officer of the Kaduna State Police Command, DSP Mansur Hassan, confirmed the incident to TST Hausa, but stated that the police had not yet received any formal complaints from the villagers or any group regarding the attack or those accused of the killings.