Operatives of the Kwara State Police Command have arrested a man, one Alade James, for allegedly killing and burying a nine-year-old girl, Faith Samuel.
According to the police, 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.
