A lifeless body of a septuagenarian woman was on Sunday discovered in the popular Ureje river in Ajilosun area of Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti state capital.
Residents of the area and commuters plying the route, located along the Ado Ekiti-Ikere Ekiti road, rushed to the scene to catch a glimpse of the fresh corpse of the aged woman.
Sources said the dead body was dumped in the river around 6:00 am on Sunday morning by a young boy who they claimed, had since been arrested by the police in the area.
Sympathisers said they doubted if her alleged killer was not her very own son, but this could not be confirmed from competent sources
Many residents abandoned church service and rushed to the river where the corpse of the woman was floating, and rained curses on her suspected killer.
When NAN got to the scene, the body of the woman was found clad in a red blouse and an off- white wrapper.
Some of the residents and sellers around the area suspected that the evil act might have been perpetrated by her own child for money rituals.
One of the residents who craved anonymity said “the suspect was seen with the woman in the river as early as 6 am but no one suspected any foul play
“After his apprehension much later, people in the area descended on him, and he was almost lynched but the timely arrival of the police daved his situation
“The police later rescued and took him away to their station, apparently to save him from being killed”.
Another source said “the young man, believed to be in his early 20s was caught in the act in the river where he killed the woman and he was given a hot chase by the people”.
“He was running towards the left side of the river and the people alongside policemen who had earlier been alerted, went after him before he was apprehended at the other end of the river”.
Some of the witnesses said that the old woman must have been a victim of ritual killing, considering her manner of killing on the river bank, and the unusual colour of the dress found on her.
Men of the Ekiti State Fire Service have removed the corpse for onward deposit to the mortuary.
The incident caused heavy traffic around the area with commuters taking alternative route in order to meet up with their various engagement.
Police Public Relations Ifficer, (PPRO) Caleb Ikechukwu said he would have to first obtain detailed information about the incident from the Ologede Police Division before passing comments.
