The Acting Commissioner of Police in Nasarawa State, Shettima Muhammad, on Monday confirmed the arrest of two men for allegedly locking up their 35-year-old cousin and starving him to death over allegations of witchcraft.
He said police received information on November 30 that the deceased, Mohammed Sani, had his hands and legs tied, and locked in his room where he was starved to death.
Muhammad said the family hurriedly buried Sani’s remains, but that investigations were ongoing to arrest others involved in the crime.
He added that the two arrested suspects denied their involvement, claiming that they only participated in the burial after discovering Sani’s decomposing body in his room.
In a related development, Muhammad paraded 16 suspects arrested between October and November for various crimes across the state.
He said 10 of the suspects were arrested for armed robbery, five for kidnapping and one for defilement.
He added that police also recovered seven firearms and 27 rounds of live ammunition from the suspects.
On the case of defilement, Muhammad said the suspect, 21-year-old 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 and 10 years, before nemesis caught up with him,” Muhammad added.
