BENIN CITY: Some suspected cultists on Thursday strangled a young man to death at the Uwelu area of Benin City, causing panic among residents of the locality of reprisal attacks.
The Nigerian Observer gathered that the yet-to-be identified young man was murdered in an alley way at the early hours of the day with his body hung on a mango tree.
However, an aspiring professional footballer, Tony Ajatiton, who was on his way to practice allegedly witnessed the murder have reportedly gone underground after he received death threats from some unknown persons over the incident.
A resident of the area told the Nigerian Observer on the condition of anonymity that they woke up to find the strangled body in the alley which caused panic in the locality.
“We woke up this morning to the shock of seeing this strangled body of a boy in our area.
“The spot where the boy is a notorious hideout for ruffians who come to smoke Indian Hemp and do all sorts of nonsense. This is really sad, ” he said.
Also, a source, who is an acquaintance of Tony, said he must have disappeared because some of these cultists are highly connected and are often used as thugs by politicians during election.
The source , who spoke on the condition of anonymity , described the alleged witness as a focused young man who just wanted to achieve his dream of playing football professionally.
“Tony was running late for the session so he took a short-cut and an unusual path to training, “a tiny road which is feared as a den for criminals in the area.
“As he paused to ease himself, he noticed from afar about three teenagers involved in a little equable. Suddenly two of the boys took to their heels unbeknownst to them that Tony was standing afar and trying to understand what was going on.
He tiptoed to the scene where the guys were and to his horror he saw the strangled body of a lad hanging on a bush-mango tree.
“In shock, Tony screamed out to alert people to the scene. One woman popularly called Mama Nosa, who was passing by came around and joined in expressing horror, ” the source said.
According to the source, Police Officers from Egor Division came to the scene later but Tony had already left in order not to be implicated in the murder.
“The police claimed they suspect he is among those who committed the offence and believe that once he is arrested and seriously tortured that he will confess.
“From then, Tony started hiding indoors because apart from the police that was looking for him, some cultists were also hunting him.
” He was even attacked a few days later by unknown persons but managed to escape and since then, nobody has seen him, “the source added.
A top police officer, who confirmed the development to the Nigerian Observer said investigation was still ongoing and he was not authorised to release further details concerning the case.
