Outrage as suspected ritualist cuts off girl’s breast

• Another arrested with roasted human parts in Taraba

There was visible outrage among residents of Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital after a suspected ritualist cut off the breast of an 18-year-old girl.The victim, simply identified as Faith, was reportedly lured to a hotel in the Biogbolo area of Yenagoa metropolis after negotiating for a night of sexual rendezvous ‎with an unidentified man.

It was gathered that later in the night, the suspected ritualist, who had lodged in the hotel, ‎cut off the girl’s left breast and left her in her own pool of blood.

An eyewitness told our correspondent that the ear-piercing scream of the girl attracted workers and other lodgers at the hotel. “The sight of the scene was scary. We searched for the suspect around the area but he was nowhere to be found,” he said.

The girl was later confirmed dead from excessive bleeding and shock. Some hotel workers claimed the suspect was an Igbo man, who lodged without proper documentation and identification as required by law.

The police have arrested the hotel owner and two other suspects. The incident, which occurred on Friday around 10p.m., reportedly led to an angry spat between some Igbo indigenes and Epie indigenes around the area.

When contacted, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Asuquo Mba, confirmed the development, but said “initially, it was treated purely as a case of assault occasioned by harm, but now that the girl has died, we are now treating a case of murder against one suspect.

“People should not take laws into their hands because we don’t know who the suspect is though eyewitnesses accounts at the hotel have given us a strong clue.”

Meanwhile, a 60-year-old suspected ritualist, Abubakar Abdulkadir, popularly known as Sambo, who hails from Alingora village in Ardo-Kola Local Council of Taraba State, had been arrested by the state police command.

The suspect, who was in possession of roasted human parts, was yesterday paraded before newsmen by the Commissioner of Police, Yahaya Y. Babas, at the command headquarters in Jalingo, the state capital.

According to the police boss, “the earlier report of a four-year-old missing child by one Ali Gimba, nephew to the suspect, compelled the command to move into action.”

In an effort to unravel the cause of the child’s disappearance, the detectives carried out an investigation into the matter, which led to the arrest of the suspect. The police commissioner added that the suspect would be charged to court after investigations are concluded.

The suspect, who did not deny the allegation, said: “I decided to butcher the child into pieces when I discovered that he had died.”Also paraded with Sambo were 22 suspects who were arrested for being in possession of firearms and belonging to a robbery gang. They were smoked out of their hideout in Kungana village in Bali Local Council.