By ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi –
The Bauchi State Police Command has arrested a 35-year old man, Haruna Ezekiel, who allegedly killed his uncle and burned his corpse for initiating his son into witchcraft.
The Police Public Relations Officer.in the state, Ahmed Wakil, who disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists on Thursday evening, said that the incident happened on December 5th, 2022 at Gongo village of Tafawa Balewa local government area of Bauchi State.
He said that the suspect became furious after his son told him that his uncle, 80-year old Sunday Sale, allegedly initiated him into witchcraft and was demanding that he (the son) sacrifice his father.
Wakil, a Superintendent of Police, said that the suspect then confronted his uncle and hit him with a stick causing him to be unconscious; he dragged him into his house and burnt him.
He added that the suspect then took the corpse which was burnt beyond recognition and hurriedly buried him in a shallow grave behind the burnt house.
“0n the 6th December 2022, information received by Tafawa Balewa Divisional Police headquarters revealed that on the 5th December 2022, a complainant (name withheld), male (44) of Gongo village while returning from the market, saw flames coming out from the house of one Sunday Saleh (Deceased), male (80) of the same address.
“He rushed to the scene to ascertain what was happening. Upon arrival, he met one Haruna Ezekiel (suspect), male (35) of the same address, at the scene.
“He discovered that he (Haruna) had killed and burnt the said Sunday Saleh inside the house. He (the suspect) later dug a shallow grave and buried the body behind the burnt house.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that the victim is a paternal uncle to the suspect, who is alleged to have initiated the suspect’s son Chomwanda into witchcraft. Further investigations revealed that the suspect discovered that the victim who is now deceased initiated his son into witchcraft unknowingly.
“The suspect was told by his son that the victim gave him a piece of meat to eat some days ago. Later, the victim met the son and told him that the meat he ate was an initiation into witchcraft and that his father (the suspect) must be sacrificed in the process.
“Upon hearing this, the suspect was furious and confronted him (the victim) about the matter, as the victim has long been suspected to be notorious for witchcraft.
“The victim (Sunday Sale) apologized to the suspect on the matter but the suspect was short-tempered and hit the victim with a stick on the head causing him to faint.
“He dragged the victim’s body into his house and set the entire house ablaze. As a result, the victim’s body was burnt beyond recognition.
“The suspect, therefore, swiftly packed the burnt body and buried it in a shallow grave behind the house,” Wakil stated.
According to the Police Spokesman, the Commissioner of Police, Aminu Alhassan, frowned at the ugly incident, and condemned the suspect’s action who, instead of reporting the matter to the Police for proper investigation and prosecution, took the law into his own hands, by gruesomely murdering the person he was suspecting without any recourse of the law.
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