The police command in Niger has arrested two suspects in Lapai LGA of the state for their alleged involvement in the killing of a four-year-old boy for rituals.
Abiodun Wasiu, Niger police public relations officer (PPRO), confirmed the development on Saturday in Minna, the Niger capital.
Wasiu said investigation into the incident has commenced, and advised residents against jungle justice.
According to NAN, the suspects were rescued from being lynched by a mob after the remains of the four-year-old boy, who had been missing for four days, were allegedly discovered.
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A resident of the area, who didn’t want to be named, said one of the suspects, identified as Emmanuel, who is also a trader in building materials, allegedly connived with his gateman to kidnap the child.
The resident alleged that the two suspects killed the child and removed his vital organs, including the eyes, ears, private part, and heart, while his remains were put in a sack for the gateman to dispose of.
“The gateman entered a motorcycle to a stream where he was to dispose of the remains, but on dropping the gateman, the motorcyclist noticed blood dripping from the sack,” the resident was quoted as saying.
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“The commercial motorcyclist alerted the bystanders and police.”
Abdullahi Musa, another resident of the area, said: “There are evil men in every community. Emmanuel is one of them. We have set his house on fire. We wish he was the one we got; we would have killed him.”
Maryam Kwambo, another resident, described the alleged discovery of the child’s remains as the first of such incident in the community.
“Since the creation of Lapai local government area, we’ve never encountered such a radical and wicked situation as today,” she said.
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“We will get to the root of this. We will get justice for the child. Just four days ago, we heard information about the missing child and no one could give an account of his whereabouts.
“This matter should be handled properly. We seek justice.”
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