The Ekiti State Police Command yesterday confirmed the death of a Fulani teenager, who was allegedly beheaded by a herdsman for refusing his marriage proposal.
The suspected Fulani herder, whose name was yet to be made public by the police, committed the murder at Ilasa Ekiti, Ekiti East Local Government Area.
The suspect allegedly decapitated the teenager with a sharp cutlass after ambushing her on the way to a stream.
The incident, which occurred on Tuesday, had thrown the whole community into confusion and panic.…
The assailant was said to have ambushed the lady and cut off her head while she bent down to fetch water from the stream and bolted away before he was later tracked down by the police.
A source in the town revealed that the young girl had been allegedly handed over to the suspected assailant as a future wife in line with Fulani custom and tradition.
The source also said trouble started last month when the suspect requested the lady to spend the Eld-el-Fitr with him but she refused.
Another source in the town said: “the lady after growing up, observed that the supposed husband was a drunkard and drug addict, thereby avoiding him for necessary marriage arrangements.
In a chat, some relatives of the deceased affirmed that the suspected murderer made a request to spend the Eld-el-Fitr with his wife, adding that the lady was supposed to go to him the next day before he killed her.
Speaking to journalists, the traditional ruler of the community and Alasa of Ilasa, Oba Ajayi Omolagba, condemned the killing, saying the community had been in shock since the incident occurred.
Omolagba said the failure of the family of the lady to release her before, during and after the celebration angered the suspect who assumed the contract had been breached by the family, hence his resort to that dastardly act.
He said: “We had summoned the families of all parties involved and their landlords to a meeting where resolutions were reached on how to forestall future occurrence.
The king noted that the community would also make necessary appeasement to the gods, stating that such incident was strange and a taboo in the land.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ekiti Command, DSP Caleb Ikechukwu, confirmed the incident
Ikechukwu said investigation had been launched to unravel the cause of such criminal act while more details would be made available to the public.
Also, suspected herdsmen robbed commuters along Ile-Ife-Ibadan Express Way and killed a civil servant, Mr. Adenipekun Ademiju.
It was gathered that Ademiju, popularly called Okere, a staff of Atakumosa West Local Government Area of the state, boarded a private vehicle at Osu, on his way to Ibadan before the incident happened at Ikire.
According to an eyewitness, Ademiju was allegedly shot dead as the robbers shot sporadically at vehicles to forcefully stop them.
“The man was killed by Fulani herdsmen who normally rob on this road. They were two in the car; I think the bullets missed the target, which is the driver of the car before killing the man.
“The robbers dropped the corpse on the highway and went away with the car,” the eyewitness said.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, SP Folashade Odoro, who confirmed the incident to journalists, said police were still investigating the matter.
