Suspected ritualist kills 9-year-old girl in Kwara, buries her with N1,000 note

Crack detectives from the Kwara State Police Command have arrested a man, Alade James, for allegedly killing and burying a nine-year-old girl, Faith Samuel.

The police said James buried the victim in Offa in the Offa Local Government Area of Kwara State with the aim of using her for a money ritual.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Ajayi Okasanmi, in a statement on Sunday, said operatives, who exhumed the corpse, discovered that it was buried with a N1,000 note.

“Around 6.12pm of Saturday, September 25, 2021, acting on actionable intelligence, a team of policemen arrested a man, Alade James of Alawe compound, Offa, in the process of burying a corpse in the Ikotun area of Offa. Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect had killed and buried the nine-year-old girl, Faith Samuel, of Onireke area Offa.

“The corpse was recovered with a N1,000 note buried with it. The body was deposited at a mortuary for an autopsy after a doctor certified the girl dead,” he added.

Okasanmi said the suspect confessed to killing the girl for a money ritual.

He said, “The parents of the deceased have been contacted, while the Commissioner of Police, Kwara State, Tuesday Assayomo, has ordered a discreet investigation into the murder.”

In a related development, the police also rescued a 25-year-old kidnapped victim, Kafayat Jamiu, of Olupo Farm Settlement, Eruku, in the Ekiti LGA of the state.

The police spokesperson said, “The command’s tactical teams, in conjunction with local hunters and vigilantes, were dispatched by the Commissioner of Police to the bushes for a search, rescue, and possible arrest of the kidnappers.

“The efforts yielded a positive result in the early hours of Sunday when the victim was rescued unhurt.”

Okasanmi said the kidnappers escaped with bullet injuries, while one locally fabricated assault rifle with four live ammunition was recovered.

He stated that effort to arrest the fleeing suspects was being intensified.

Okasanmi also confirmed the kidnap of three persons, including a woman, Mrs Ajibike Raji, and her two daughters, Zainab and Aliya, in Omu-Aran on Friday night.

“The command also wishes to confirm an incident of kidnap reported by one Raji Ibrahim Abidemi of TAIISA Filling Station, Omuaran, on September 24, 2021, to the effect that his wife, Raji Ajibike, and his two daughters, Raji Zainab and Raji Aliya were abducted by unknown gunmen after firing shots to scare people away.”

Okasanmi said effort was on to get the victims rescued.

Gunmen raid farm settlement, kill teenager, NSCDC probes attack

In another development, the state command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps said a teenager, identified only as Rukayat, was killed while two others were injured on Saturday at a farm settlement at Ahun village, Oro- Ago, in the Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State when yet-to-be-identified gunmen attacked the village.

According to the NSCDC spokesman in Kwara State, Babawale Afolabi, the incident occurred around 8pm.

He stated that the gunmen, who were in large numbers, shot sporadically when they entered the community, which resulted in the killing of Rukayat, who was hit by a stray bullet.

“The motive behind the attack has not been established, but we have commenced investigations and we are working with the community leaders in order to get to the root of the matter,” Afolabi added.

(The PUNCH: Excluding headline)