Angry mob on Thursday lynched a suspected ritualist at Akenfa a suburb of Yenagoa, the Bayelsa state capital.
He was reportedly caught red-handed while trying to cut the body of a young lady he was accused of killing by the mob.
It was gathered that the young lady identified as Best, an indigene of Epie, was hit and killed by the suspect.
The community has come under attack by ritualists who kill women and harvest their vital body parts.
Sources said the suspect threatened to attack the mob with an axe when he was caught but that he was later overpowered and burnt to death.
It was gathered that the man pretended to be mad during the day but turned to a killer at night.
One of the sources who spoke in confidence said: “That’s the guy that has been killing women at Akenfa. They caught him once when he was trying to kill another woman, I think that was last month, they beat him up but did not hand him over to the police.
“He was still saying he will kill. This morning he killed one Epie girl, they caught him when he was trying to butcher her with an axe. This is the third women he has killed so farâ€.
Confirming the incident, the Bayelsa Police Spokesman, Asinim Butswat, said both the suspected ritualist and murdered woman were known to be mentally sick.
A human rights activist and gender advocate, Princess Elizabeth Egbe, lamented the spate of ritual killings in the community.
She said: †There has been a lot of killings at Akenfa recently, mainly women. They always remove parts of the body, breast, brain, v*rg*na, eyes and pants and bra.
“As a Human Rights Activist/Gender Advocate, I strongly condemn these killings and call on the perpetrators to desist from this barbaric, inhuman, ungodly act and violence against women.
“We, therefore, call on government at all levels to beef up security to stop further reoccurrence of these cases that have become a menace in our society.
“This is serious violence against women and I call on all women to lend their voices to condemn these crimes because it’s crime against all women†.
source: thenationonlineng.net/suspected-ritualist-lynched-in-bayelsa/
