Who killed a couple and their only son in their Iyanu Ibeshe, Ikorodu, Lagos home on Tuesday? This is the puzzle the community is trying to unravel following the discovery of their bodies hours after they were killed.
The bodies of the Ebhodaghes were found by their son’s schoolmates and teacher who came to look for him on Tuesday.
Mr and Mrs Lucky Ebhodaghe and Jonathan are believed to have been killed by a ritual gang known as Badoo.
Their heads were said to have been smashed with a big stone.
The woman was also alleged to have been raped, as her pant was torn and covered in blood.
According to residents, the attack occurred in the wee hours of Tuesday but no one knew till around 3pm when two of Jonathan’s classmates and a teacher came to find out why he did not come for the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) senior certificate examination.
Although the doors to their home were opened, the visitors became worried after knocking for several minutes without response.
The teacher, it was gathered, went to the opposite compound and invited the landlord who attends the same church (Deeper Life) with the Ebhodaghes.
When our reporter visited the community yesterday evening, elderly men were discussing the issue.
The men, who were later introduced as landlords, said the community had been robbed of its peace.
According to one of them, the killers gained access into the apartment through the late Jonathan’s room’s window.
“They removed the glass window and then tore the net. From there, they entered into the house. It looks like they moved the boy from his room into his parent’s room where they killed them. They used a big stone to scatter their heads and left them in their pool of blood. The blood stains are still in the room. The man was very quiet and easy going. He has never quarrelled with anyone in this neighbourhood. He has just one child. He worked with an oil servicing firm. He’s the owner of the house and only lived there with his wife and child.
“No one knew what had happened to them. We did not even hear any noise in the night. It was two young boys and a teacher that came to look for Jonathan, after they did not see him for the exams they had that made us to know there was a problem. The door was opened but they knocked and no one answered. When they were tired of knocking, their teacher called one of the landlords and he came to the compound.
“He was the one who led them in. When they pointed torchlight in his parent’s room, they saw their dead bodies. So, we had to call the Community Development Association (CDA) chairman, who called the Divisional Police Officer (DPO). “The police came and evacuated the bodies. The boy was on the floor, while his parents were on the bed. When we saw the woman, naked, we called another woman to go in first and cover her before anybody can enter. It looks like she was raped,” a resident said.
A landlord, who refused to be named said the Ebhodaghes would be buried tomorrow, adding that their relatives have agreed that they be buried in their home.
He said the suspected killers usually went after non-indigenes, wondering why the police were yet to get their sponsors.
According to him, some of the survivors of previous attacks had named the perpetrators and those sponsoring them but the police have not gone after them.
He said: “This is pure ritual killing. Those behind it are being paid by some highly – placed persons, including traditional rulers, and their names have been given to the police.
“The police have been told by some people who narrowly escaped being killed by the boys. Besides, what have the police done to those previously arrested? Why are they after non-indigenes?
“Already, two people packed out of the area yesterday after discovering that they have killed this Edo man and his family. People are scared. We can’t continue like this. Let homicide detectives take this matter up and apprehend the culprits. I am sure that our police can arrest them if they stop covering for their sponsors.
“The woman whose seven-month-old pregnant daughter was killed last year, gave names of those behind the attacks to the police. What have they done about that?”
Lagos command spokeman Olarinde Famous-Cole, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), said the Ibeshe Division received a phone call from one Funso Akintimeyin that three bodies were found in an apartment.
He said the bodies had been deposited at Ikorodu General Hospital mortuary.
