Two men arrested for allegedly starving cousin to death over witchcraft allegations

Two men are in police custody in Nasarawa State for allegedly locking up their 35-year-old cousin and starving him to death over allegations of witchcraft.

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

He said police received information on Nov. 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 allegations of witchcraft.

Muhammad said the family hurriedly buried the remains of Sani, but further investigation is ongoing to arrest others that 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 Sani in his room.

In another development, Muhammad paraded 16 suspects arrested between October and November for various criminal offences across Nasarawa 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, Habu Yusuf (21), was arrested on Oct. 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 said.

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