Crimes

2 starve cousin to death over witchcraft allegation

The operatives of the Nasarawa State Police Command have arrested two men for allegedly locking up their 35-year-old cousin and starving him to death over an allegation of witchcraft.

The Acting Commissioner of Police in Nasarawa State, Shettima Muhammad, confirmed the arrest of the duo in Lafia, the state capital, on Monday.

He said the police received information on November 30 that the deceased, Mohammed Sani, had his hands and legs tied and locked away in his room where he was starved to death over an allegation of witchcraft.

Muhammad said the family hurriedly buried the remains of Sani, noting that further investigation was ongoing to arrest others who might have been involved in the murder.

He added that the two suspects already arrested denied their involvement and claimed that they only participated in the burial after discovering the decomposing body of their cousin in his room.

In another development, Muhammad paraded 16 suspects arrested between October and November for various criminal offences in Nasarawa State.

He said ten of the suspects were arrested for armed robbery, five for kidnapping, and one for defilement.

Muhammad added that police also recovered seven firearms and 27 rounds of live ammunition from the suspects.

On the case of defilement, the police commissioner said a 21-year-old suspect, Habu Yusuf, was arrested on October 31, for allegedly defiling a five-year-old girl.

He said the victim’s mother reported the case to the police on the fateful day when she found her daughter walking abnormally.

“Preliminary investigation showed that the suspect had also sexually molested two of his elder brother’s children aged eight years and 10 years before nemesis caught up with him,” Muhammad added.

He, therefore, commended the collaboration of other security agencies and that of the citizens with the police in the fight against crime in Nasarawa State and sued for sustenance of the synergy.

The Star