The Bauchi Police Command has arrested one Haruan Ezekiel for killing his uncle and burning his body on an accusation of witchcraft.
According to a statement by the Command’s Police Public Relations Officer, SP Ahmed Wakil, and made available to the Nigeria Police Radio, 99.1FM, Abuja the Tafawa Balewa Divisional Police Headquarters received information by a resident leading to the arrest of the suspect.
The statement explained that the informant while returning from the market on 5th December, 2022 saw flame coming out from one Sunday Saleh (deceased) aged 80yrs house.
On rushing to the scene, to ascertain the course of the fire met one the suspect and discovered that he had killed and burnt the victim and dug a shallow grave behind the burnt house where he buried the victim’s body.
SP Wakil in the statement said preliminary investigation however revealed that the victim was the paternal uncle to the suspect, who alleged to have initiated the suspect’s son “Chomwanda” into witchcraft.
On investigation, it was revealed that the suspect discovered that the victim who is now deceased initiated his son into witchcraft unknowingly by giving him a piece of meat.
According to the statement, the victim informs the boy that the meat he gave him was to initiate him into witchcraft and will require that the boy’s father be used as sacrifice.
On hearing this, the suspect got furious, confronted the victim, who was notorious for witchcraft within the community.
The confrontation compelled the victim to apologized but the suspect will not have any of the apology and in that process hit the victim with a stick leading to the victim losing consciousness.
The suspect later dragged the victim’s body into his house and set the entire house ablaze, resulting to the victim’s body burning beyond recognition.
To hide the body, the suspect was said to have swiftly dug a shallow grave behind the house where the burnt body was buried.
While reacting to the ugly incident, the Commissioner of Police CP Aminu Alhassan frowned at the action of the suspect, who instead of reporting the to the Police for proper investigation and prosecution, took the law into his own hands by gruesomely murdering the suspect without any recourse to the law.
