Man Kills, Dismembers Lady For Ritual In Lagos

                               
Residents of Ikoga Zebbe area of Badagry, Lagos State, were shocked on Sunday after the head and hands of an unamed lady were seized from a man who claimed to be a hunter.

The suspect, identified as Taofik, aka Kiekie, was later handed over to policemen from the Area K Command, where operatives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad picked him up on Monday.

The suspect was said to have led FSARS officers to where a stockpile of fresh and decaying human bodies were found in a bush.

A resident, David Taiwo, said the incident threw the community into confusion, adding that nobody suspected Taofik was into such acts.

He said, “Taofik has been living in the community for a long time. People are used to seeing him with pieces of wood on his head while riding a bicycle with one hand. Nobody knew his exact job.

“A few days ago, he started going about with sacks that were always soaked with blood. When he was asked what he was carrying, he said he had become a hunter, adding that he was carrying fresh bush meat.

“A policeman, who had observed him, decided to stop him yesterday (Sunday). The man said he was interested in buying the bush meat and when Taofik started an argument with him, he forced the suspect to open the sack.

“He brought out a knife to attack the officer and the policeman raised the alarm. He abandoned the sack and took to his heels. People gave him a chase, caught up with him and took him back to where the sack was. They found  a young lady’s head and hands in the sack.”

The resident said when Taofik was queried, he claimed to be selling the parts to some individuals who needed them for ritual purposes.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the suspect claimed that he always cast a spell on his victims before taking them into a bush across a river, where they were killed and dismembered.

A source said, “The FSARS officials followed him into the bush where they found other parts of the lady’s body and some other rotten human parts.”

Another resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed that the deceased was the suspect’s girlfriend.

She added that Taofik would have been killed, but for the intervention of the police.

She said, “The man has two wives and the lady he killed was his girlfriend. People wanted to kill him, but the police saved him. He mentioned two other members of his gang, who have been arrested by the police. We learnt that their witch doctor has escaped.”

A top medical official at the Badagry General Hospital said the dismembered remains of the lady were deposited in the hospital’s mortuary.

He said, “The police brought the lady’s corpse on Sunday. The head was intact, while other body parts were in bits. The lady has not been identified.”

The spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, ASP Olarinde Famous-Cole, said, “The Area K Commander said there was an incident of that nature and it is being investigated.”