Boy, 10, thrown into river for witchcraft, survives
A10-year-old boy, Usen Okon, who was thrown into the Imo River in the Ikot Abasi area of Akwa Ibom State, over witchcraft accusation, has survived the ordeal.
A non-government organisation, the Humanist Association for Peace and Social Tolerance Advancement and its partner, Child’s Rights and Rehabilitation Network, said the boy was being taken care of by the groups.
The Senior Project Manager of the organisation, Mr. Ayobami Ojedokun, told our correspondent in Uyo on Tuesday that Okon was under the care of his paternal aunt, identified simply as Ekaeyen, at Etebi community in the Esit Eket Local Government Area of the state as his parents had died.
He said a few days ago, Okon was aroused from sleep by Ekaeyen who took him to her husband and asked him to confess to being a wizard.
He added that when Okon denied the witchcraft accusation, his aunt threatened to throw him into a river.
Ojedokun said Ekaeyen, true to her words, on November 16, took Okon to the Imo River and threw him into the water with the hope that he would drown.
“She actually threw Okon into Imo River thinking that the boy would drown. The boy came out of the water alive and went to their home, only to be told that her auntie had relocated,” Ojedokun said.
The Project Director, Mr. Adeyemi Johnson, added that HAPSTA/CRARN have reunited 16 children to their families from January to November, and referred two children to Ministry of Women Affairs.
He added that HAPSTA/CRARN had also rescued 17 children from January till date, while the organisation had 15 children in its centre.
“We also organise advocacy town hall meetings in Okobo, Ebughu and Etinan, where child witches stigmatisation are commonplace. We brought pastors and child rights activists together through a meeting at Ikot Abasi,” he said.
The acting Police Public Relations Officer, Akwa Ibom State Police Command, Mr. Iboro Victor, said he was not aware of the incident.
“The incident is not to my knowledge right now,” he said.
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Family, police disagree over killing of 32-year-old
The family of Mr. Adeniyi Asubiaro, a 32-year-old man, who was allegedly shot dead by a policeman, and the Lagos State Police Command have disagreed on who killed the victim.
While the family insisted that Asubiaro was gunned down by a policeman, identified as Inspector Akeem Skoda, the command said such name did not exist in the police database.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Asubiaro was shot dead in front of his house on Thursday, November 20. The incident occurred on Oshodi Street, Lagos Island.
It was gathered that a police patrol team had come to the area to raid a birthday party on the street which was reportedly turning violent.
While the youth fled, Skoda, a policeman on the team, had allegedly opened fire on them and Asubiaro, sitting in front of his apartment, had been hit by a stray bullet.
Asubiaro’s aged mother, identified as Iyabode, said when she got to the hospital where her son was rushed to, he was already dead.
She said, “I had initially gone to his house that Thursday. As I was leaving, I came across some youths in a birthday party at the end of the street. I passed them and headed for my shop on a neighbouring street.
“Scarcely had I sat down when someone came, shouting that I had an emergency at the hospital. When I got there, I found out it was my son who was shot dead.
“His friends said it was one Inspector Akeem Skoda from the Lion Building Division who shot him dead during a raid. The inspector was said to have fired the shot at the partying youths when the bullet hit my son in front of his house.”
However, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, said the name, Akeem Skoda, was not in the police database, adding that investigations were still ongoing on the allegation.
He said, “I have got in touch with the Lion Building Division and that name does not exist in the station. We don’t have any Inspector Akeem Skoda in the Lagos command. However, we are investigating the allegation and when investigations are concluded, we will let the people know.
“When people cannot identify the exact location of an incident, it becomes an issue to know who were involved.
“Before any death can be confirmed, there are procedures such as who killed the victim and where he died.”
However, a resident, who claimed to be an eyewitness, Mr. Akeem Ajisafe, said youths on the street burnt tyres to mourn Asubiaro after the incident.
He said, “We suspect he was shot by the police officer. The policemen were running after some thugs who were at a birthday party and they fired.
“He was hit in the process. Unfortunately, he was not one of the hoodlums.
“Everyone was enraged by that stray bullet which killed an innocent man. Asubiaro got married this year.”
Efforts by our correspondent to speak with the widow, Mrs. Idayat Asubiaro, who is eight-month pregnant, were unsuccessful as of press time.
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Mother shot dead by her 3 year old son at their home in Oklahoma
26 year old Crista Engles (pictured above) was accidentally shot dead by her 3 year old son at their home as she was attending to her 1 year old daughter.
According NBC News, the little boy shot and killed his mother after finding a loaded semi-automatic handgun in their home in Tulsa, Oklahoma yesterday November 25th.
The woman's mother who also lives in the house, but wasn't present when the horrible accident occurred, came home and found the 3 year old and 1 year old covered in blood and crying, this is according to Tulsa police. She found her daughter unresponsive beside her children and thought she'd been killed by an intruder. She immediately called the police.
But while investigating, the police found out that the boy had found the gun under a sofa in the living room and had accidentally fired it. Unfortunately his mum was in the line of fire. Police said when they visited the home, they found a lot of guns there. The woman's husband wasn't home when the incident occurred.
