Following the allegation of killing a 12-year-old boy, Ayomide Agunbiade, for ritual purposes, two persons have been reportedly lynched by an angry mob.
NIGERIACRIME gathered that the incident happened in the Odo Alaro area of Odogbolu Local Government Area of Ogun State on Tuesday.
One of the suspects who was mobbed had reportedly visited the house of the missing child on Monday (Christmas Day) which was also the boy’s birthday.
He went to pick up the boy in the absence of his mother that he wanted to celebrate his birthday with him.
Speaking anonymously, an elder in the village who said he was not permitted to speak on the matter revealed that another boy informed the community that he witnessed when the said uncle came to pick up Ayomide.
He led the search party to the house of the uncle when the case escalated within the community on Tuesday.
When he was confronted about the allegation of knowing the whereabouts of the missing boy, the suspect denied the claim but the little boy stood his ground that he was the one that left with Ayomide on Christmas Day.
After much pressure from the search party, the suspect, however, confessed to know Agunbiade’s whereabouts but told them that he had killed him for ritual purposes.
The source said, “The boy went missing on Christmas Day (Monday) which was his birthday. We learnt that an uncle of his had come to pick him up when his mother was not at home. He was playing with other children in the community when the man came to pick him up that he wanted to celebrate his birthday with him.
“It was yesterday (Tuesday), when the family began to look for him but couldn’t find him that they raised the alarm in the community before a boy whom they were playing together with told the family that it was an uncle that came to pick him for his birthday celebration.
“When we asked the man to take us to the place the child was, he and one other guy took us to an uncompleted building where we found the body of Ayomide with his head missing.
“It was the sight of the state of Ayomide (Agunbiade) that infuriated the crowd who had gathered in numbers. The crowd descended on them and lynched them before police officers came around and took their bodies away.”
When contacted for a reaction, the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, did not respond to messages sent to her and did not reply to calls made to her line as of the time of filing this report.
Meanwhile, a senior police source close to the community confirmed the incident but declined to comment further for lack of authority to speak with the media.
“The incident truly happened but you know I cannot make comments on it because I am not authorised to speak with the media,” he said.