A man who slit the throat of a 60-year-old woman and stabbed her to death after accusing her of witchcraft and being responsible the sickness of his sister has been arrested by men of the Bauchi State Police Command.
The man, Haruna Amadu, aged 25 years, was said to have carried out the gruesome act on Thursday, September 24, around 7:00 a.m. at Wasari Village.
He reportedly stormed the home of the woman, Hafsatu Ya’u, slit her throat and stabbed her on the chest and various parts of her body, after accusing her of being a witch.
He also accused her of being responsible for the illness of his sister, one Maryam Amadu. As a result of the attack, the victim became unconscious while the man fled the scene to an unknown destination.
A distress call regarding the attack was made to Gadau Divisional Headquarters of the command and on receiving the call, a team of detectives raced to the scene and rushed the woman to the General Hospital, Azare, where she was confirmed dead on arrival by a medical doctor on duty.
The operatives eventually launched a manhunt which led to the arrest of Ahmadu. He was said to have given more useful information about his act while the case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for more investigation.
In another development, on the same day around 10:00 p.m., a 20-year-old mother reported at Azare Divisional Headquarters that she left her four-month-old daughter sleeping and went to her neighbour’s house to make her hair.
A few moments later, she returned home and discovered that child was lifeless, and met her husband, Muhammad Garba Ladan, coming out of the room.
She alleged that he had earlier made several attempts to kill the said child, as the pregnancy occurred out of wedlock before they later got married.
Upon receipt of the complaint, detectives rushed the child to General Hospital, where the medical doctor on duty confirmed her dead as a result of strangulation.
The man was later arrested and he is currently under interrogation.
