Crimes

Missing 12-year-old boy found dead in Ogun

The mutilated body of a missing 12-year-old boy, John Soyinka, has been found in a bush at Kotogbo community in Asero Estate, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

Soyinka was declared missing a week ago and the matter was reported at the Obantoko Police Station in Abeokuta.

A resident of the area, who pleaded anonymity, disclosed that the boy disappeared after he went to see a customer who had done a transaction at a POS shop where the deceased assisted.

The resident said: “I know the boy very well. He is about 12-year-old and lived with his mother, who I guess is no longer with her husband.

“His mother does menial jobs like helping people to sweep.

”What we heard was that, last week Thursday, he informed people he wanted to check on a customer who had done POS transaction, apparently may be there was something to sort out about the transaction, but the boy never came back.

“The boy and his mother lived at Olasunkanmi community and so the Community Development Association reported the matter to the Divisional Police Officer at Obantoko Station.

“The DPO informed the police at Adigbe and Lafenwa but it was the boy’s corpse that was seen at Kotogbo community beside Olasunkanmi on Monday.

“The two communities are inside Asero Estate, Abeokuta. It is suspected to be a case of ritual killing because the boy’s eyes were removed while his wrists were also cut off.”

The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Omolola Odutola, who confirmed the discovery of Soyinka’s body to newsmen on Wednesday, said the gruesome murder of the boy, whose eyes were plucked out and wrists cut off, had changed the case to a homicide.

Odutola said the body had been released to the family for burial, adding that an investigation was ongoing to unravel the perpetrators of the crime.

The Star