The police at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Lagos, made a shocking discovery when they allegedly discovered the body of a youth corps member in a shrine at the palace of the Onitire of Itire, Oba Lateef Abayomi Dauda.

The Chemical Engineering graduate of Lagos State University (LASU) was found tied with a rope around his neck. He was identified as Abiodun Seriki.

Police sources at SCID Panti told P.M.News that the report of the missing youth corper was initially lodged at the Itire police station three days before his dead body was found.

The parents of the deceased had also bought airtime on radio and television seeking information about their missing child.

A police source told P.M.News that a young boy of about 14 (name withheld), who had scaled the back fence of the palace to pluck mango fruits discovered the dead body.

He immediately jumped back and rushed to Itire police station to report.

The police then mobilised and stormed the palace, where the dead body was recovered.

They promptly arrested the entire household of the Oba, including his two wives and his seven children.

The Oba had visited the Homicide Department of the SCID twice and the police said he had made a useful statement.

An unconfirmed report indicated that the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DC) in charge of SCID, Panti, Mr. Oyeleye Oyebade, last Friday ordered the detention of the Oba.

An irate mob attempted to burn down the palace, prompting the police to beef-up security around the premises.

A resident of Itire, who pleaded anonymity for obvious reasons, accused the Onitire family of murder.

“They have just finished their Oro festival. Each time they do this Oro of a thing, this is how they murder people. The police should not bungle this case as we are watching,” he said.

Contacted, Mr. Leye Oyebade, the DC at Panti said: “All I can tell you now is that a dead body was discovered at the palace. What we are investigating now is homicide. Investigation will reveal if it is murder, manslaughter or suicide.”

http://thepmnews.com/2008/07/28/dead, #comment-14584

Dem don usam do money juju. evil men!!!!!!

DeepZone:

Dem don usam do money juju. evil men!!!!!!

Oh this Yoruba people and their JUJU Sariki na Hausa name, we go fight back.

its not juju

Its their ancient culture of sacrifice Everyyear after Oro Festival.

Such Act must stop in Africa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

y didnt he use his children for sacrifice?since he has so many of them

so yoruba people get otokoto too

i hope im wrong in thinking this is starting to turn slowly into a tribal or ethnic thing,,ibos have their won ritual killings which are in the papers ,same as hausa so pls stop whipping up undue sentiments

nooo, i am igbo pls, i never knew others do this kind of thing. i had always thought it was something unique to igbos. i am only just knowing better.

it was an innocent rap. trust me.

_{may be i shouldnt have said it at all}

Chei!!

darfur:

so yoruba people get otokoto too

na today?!

OYINBO MAN SEF GET OTOKOTO!!

lol

bros this your name worry o . . lol

darfur:

lol

bros this your name worry o . . lol

ur own name sef worry me.

darfur:

nooo, i am igbo please, i never knew others do this kind of thing. i had always thought it was something unique to igbos. i am only just knowing better.

it was an innocent rap. trust me.

_{may be i shouldnt have said it at all}

"This kind of thing" is done in many parts of Africa. Its linked to African Traditional Religion.

Some parts of Nigeria have nearly eradicated the practice, but it still exists nonetheless.

sad news.

gono, u should be busy selling your 'wares' to people. and darfur, y u run comot for your 'land'?dem take bazuka pursue u?

This is so sad.
My heart goes out to the family of this corper.

darfur:

nooo, i am igbo please, i never knew others do this kind of thing. i had always thought it was something unique to igbos. i am only just knowing better.

it was an innocent rap. trust me.

_{may be i shouldnt have said it at all}

smile4kenn:

its not juju

Its their ancient culture of sacrifice Everyyear after Oro Festival.

Such Act must stop in Africa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what then is juju if killing a human being to sacrifice at a shrine is not called juju
maybe the terminology has changed since I left Nigeria.
what do you people now call it ?

That is JUJU extraordinary.

Death in the palace: Family, youths set for showdown

By Kunle Adeyemi, Sesan Olufowobi, Olalekan Adetayo and Sebastine Ebhuomhan


Members of the immediate family of Abiodun Yusuf Odubiyi who was found dead at the palace of the Onitire of Itire, Lagos State, Oba Lateef Dauda, as well as other youths in the community are warming up for a showdown with the community leaders.

Odubiyi was found dead with a rope on his neck near a shrine at the palace on July 19.

The case, which was earlier reported to the police at Itire, was later referred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba, on July 21.

As at press time on Thursday, the two groups were meeting at different spots in the area with the aim of taking a common position on the issue.

This came just as the initial result of the autopsy conducted on the 28-year-old man indicated that he died of ”suspected asphyxia occasioned by alleged hanging till death.”

The autopsy report exclusively obtained by THE PUNCH in Lagos on Thursday was conducted by Dr. O. L. Lawal, of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.

It was further learnt that the blood sample of the deceased had already been taken to a forensic laboratory for analysis.

A top police source at the SCID told our correspondents that the result was being expected on August 2.

One of our correspondents who was at the deceased‘s family house at 1, Ijesha Road, Itire on Thursday quoted the bereaved father as saying that he would only make a categorical statement on the issue after a meeting slated for the evening.

He was on his way to the meeting when our correspondent arrived at the house.

A sibling of the deceased who identified himself simply as Akeem, also told our correspondent that the death of Odubiyi was a great loss to the family.

According to Akeem, the deceased was not only a close confidant of the monarch, but he was also the palace secretary.

He said the youth wing of Itire residents under the aegis of Itire Descendants Youth, was to hold a meeting on the issue at Itire Primary School beside the Itire Police Station.

He also said that the outcome of the meeting would be disclosed to our correspondent on Friday (today).

The monarch, who became the first suspect in the case, had been arrested alongside 10 others, and taken to SCID for interrogation.

After spending hours in police custody, the security agents granted the monarch and other suspects bail.

Our correspondents learnt that another traditional ruler, who satisfied the condition of owning a property in Lagos, stood surety for the embattled monarch.

An investigation by our correspondents on Thursday showed that the monarch had vacated the palace since he was granted bail.

However, a source said the traditional ruler was on the run considering the magnitude and consequences of the alleged offence.

But our correspondents found out that the prime suspect was taking refuge in the palace of another traditional ruler (name withheld) within the metropolis.

Speaking with a resident of the area on Thursday, our correspondents were told that the incident had defiled the palace and it (the palace) needed to be cleansed through the performance of some traditional rites.

Our correspondents also learnt that in Yoruba culture, a monarch is not expected to set his eyes on a corpse and since this had happened, a general purification of the king and the palace was necessary.

The source confirmed to our correspondents that the rites to be performed demanded that the traditional ruler should vacate the palace

When contacted on Thursday, the spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command, Mr. Frank Mba, denied any knowledge that the monarch was on the run.

Mba said, ”We have conducted the first round of investigation and the suspects were granted bail after satisfying all the conditions.

”I don‘t believe that the suspect has run away or will run away. A surety stood for him and signed the appropriate papers; anytime we need him, we know how to get him.

”Don‘t forget, this is a peculiar case that has generated much public interest. We are still on our investigation and at the appropriate time, we shall come out with our findings.”

Attempts by our correspondents to authenticate the true status of the victim on Thursday showed that he was neither a corps member nor a student of Lagos State University and earlier claimed.

The Public Relations Officer of the National Youth Service Corps, Lagos Office, Mrs. Joys Madaki, told one of our correspondents that the agency had no records of the deceased as a corps member.

Madaki said all efforts at getting the deceased particulars‘ that can link him to the agency had not yielded any fruitful result.

She said, ”We are interested in knowing whether he is truly a corps member and whether he is serving in Lagos or outside the state. There is no concrete information on the deceased so far.

“As far as we are concerned, anybody can wear NYSC uniform and people will take him for a corps member.”

The Chief Security Officer of LASU, Col. Aliyu Usman (rtd), told one of our correspondents that the school was already verifying the authenticity of the claim that the deceased was a Chemical Engineering student in the institution.

As at press time, Usman has not got back to our correspondents.


http://odili.net/news/source/2008/aug/1/415.html




They knew him but still killed him like that? na real wa for our Naija people o!

This kind of thing is not peculiar to Nigeria alone. It happens in UK, US, China etc but all we can do is to pray for Gods protection.

This is really horrible . But why dont they bury the dead man, instead of leaving the corpes exposed.

This isn't the 1st time Itire has been publicly associated with human sacrifice. The Oba should be severely punished, but where's mob justice when we need it now? that palace should have been razed down immediately the corpse was found.

If he was a palace secretary, he ought to have been involved in such rituals & be more careful. It is likely that the monarch needed a human sacrifice and they decided to use him being the one available. Just thinking

Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, and other Obas have waded into the controversy surrounding the death of Abiodun Seriki two weeks ago, at the palace of the Onitire of Itire, Oba Lateef Dauda.

P.M.News authoritatively gathered this morning, from a relation of the deceased, that Oba Akiolu would be meeting with youths from Itire in his palace this afternoon, to assuage them of the death of Abiodun.

The youths, who are spoiling for a showdown with Oba Dauda over the death of the LASU Chemical Engineering graduate, fled his palace last week, after being released alongside his wives and seven children by detectives at the Special Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba, Lagos.

P.M. News investigation also revealed that Awori monarchs in the state have also waded into the matter and pleaded with the youths to let sleeping dogs lie.

But speaking with P.M. News on the circumstances surrounding the death of the former youth corps member found dead in his palace, the Onitire, maintained that the deceased committed suicide by hanging himself on a tree at the back of the palace.

Oba Dauda disclosed that the tree where the deceased was found hanging was nowhere near the shrine. He disclosed that he treated the deceased like his son, adding that the deceased had been living within his palace for the past nine years.

The Oba further revealed that he was not in the palace when the deceased’s body was discovered, stressing that someone phoned him to tell him that the deceased, who had been missing for about three days, was found hanging on a tree at the back of the palace.

The Itire monarch disclosed that the police released him, his two wives and seven children because they did not find them culpable in the death of the young man, who he said was planning to travel to Canada. “The police did not indict me or any member of my family. That is the outcome of police investigation,” Oba Dauda stated.


Only in Nigeria can one be cleared in next to no time after a dead body is found in your yard with no reasonable explanation.
Naija we hail thee

This is exactly the type of thing i am afraid of when going for this years NYSC service.

The Oba said he treated the deceased like his own child and has been living with him for more than 9month, So this can't be a suicide cos he was reported missing for 3days before his corpse was found in the same compound he's living.

yoruba people and their evil / fetish practices. well, they killed one of their own so there is really vo issue with that. one down, many more to go. :d

darfur:

nooo, i am igbo pls, i never knew others do this kind of thing. i had always thought it was something unique to igbos. i am only just knowing better.

it was an innocent rap. trust me.

_{may be i shouldnt have said it at all}

who dash u igbo , if your igbo tell me what village your from , the name of the ruler and prove that igbos do traditional human sacrifice, ode

Probably the man has been duped by those he paid to process the canada visa for him. There is no way you will kill somebody and still hang the body in your compound. No OBA does so in YORUBA land. Yellow journalism.