Police nab two for allegedly beheading nine-year-old in Rivers

By OBINNA NWAOKU, Port Harcourt

The Police have arrested two persons involved in an alleged abduction and beheading of a nine-year-old boy, identified as Destiny in Azumini Isiokpo community, in Ikwerre Local Council of the Rivers State.

One of the suspects identified as Mr. Kennedy was reported to have lured the minor into a forest, where he was beheaded and his body ripped in parts for alleged ritual purposes.

A source from Isiokpo community, who confirmed the incident yesterday, said the suspects were apprehended through the help of neighbours and local vigilante, following a tip-off by a boy, who had earlier gone to call the victim for Mr. Kennedy, after the victim’s guardian returned home and raised the alarm of his disappearance.

The source said the two suspects were compelled to lead the people into the forest, where they abandoned the remains of their victim to recover them, before handing them over to the police for further investigation.

He said: “ The incident happened in Isiokpo in a particular yard, where a boy of nine years lived with a woman, who is like his stepmother.

“A man named Mr. Kennedy, staying with them in the same yard, went into the bush and sent someone to tell the boy to meet him in the bush, so he could run an errand for him. The small boy, not knowing anything, decided to follow him, since they stayed in the same yard.

“Some men in the bush killed him, dismembered his body. So, when the boy’s guardian returned, she looked for the boy, but she was told of the victim’s whereabouts by the boy, who earlier called the boy for the suspects.

“It raised suspicion and the man and one other person were apprehended as they led security personnel to the location, where they dismembered the boy’s body and his remains have been recovered.”

The Police public relations officer, SP Nnamdi Omoni, confirmed the incident, stating that two persons have been arrested and a formal investigation has been ordered by the state Commissioner of Police to unravel the development. (The Guardian)