Suspected Assassins Butcher 73-year-old Pensioner in Ekiti

Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

A 73-year-old pensioner, Mrs. Adetutu Ajayi, was wednesday killed in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, by suspected assassins who some residents suspected to be ‘Yahoo boys’.

Ajayi, daughter of the former Accountant General of the Old Western Region, Mr. Samuel Sotoowa, was killed at her residence at number 10 Moferere, Ajilosun area of Ado Ekiti.

The deceased was found in her pool of blood in her three-bedroom bungalow at 11a.m. by church members around who came to visit her with her fingers cut off and body, including head cut beyond recognition.

The mother of five, who lived alone in the flat with a tenant occupying the ‘boys quarters’ built at the back of her house, was a retiree of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, where she worked for
35 years before retirement.

Speaking on the gruesome murder, the deceased daughter, Mrs. Titilayo Ajayi, said she was called from Akure, capital of Ondo State around 11p.m. by church members that her mother sustained home injury, which she said made her to rush down to assess the situation.

According to Titilayo, “When I got here, I saw my mother in the pool of blood. Her blood had been drained and taken away because a bucket mama left in the store was also taken away which we believed was used to drain her blood, and her fingers were cut off which made us to suspect that it was done by ritualists.

“She ought to attend the cross over vigil at CAC ‘Voice of God’ in this street but when the pastor could not see her, she was worried and sent delegates to check on her, and when they got here, they saw her lifeless body and they immediately raised the alarm.
“We saw the record mama left on calendar because anytime she woke up at 5a.m., she would take her bath and marked the calendar, and wesaw the calendar marked on that day which suggested that she was killed after 5am.”

She said her body had been deposited at the morgue in the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti.

She begged the police to conduct thorough investigation into the “heinous” crime, and bring the perpetrators to book, as she also urged the police to fast-track the investigation so that her mother could be buried in due course.

The husband of the deceased, Mr Clement Ajayi, who lived at Irun Ekiti, described the incident as “sad, pathetic and surprising,” saying it confirmed that the lives of Nigerians are no longer safe.

“I could not imagine myself seeing my wife being massacred like that; over what? In fact, her head, eyes, hands, laps and neck were butchered; you could hardly identify her. It was a gruesome murder, and justice must be done in this matter,” he said.

A tenant, who lived in the adjoining boys’ quarters, Mr. Aina Joel, said she didn’t hear any noise from the deceased flat in the night, and that there was nothing to suggest that she had died when he left home for work at 8a.m. last Tuesday.

Joel also agreed with the insinuation that the deceased must have been
killed at day break or around 10a.m.
When called to confirm the story, the state Police Public Relations Officer. Alberto Adeyemi, said her body has been taken to the morgue.

“Yes, we are aware. We got the information and our men are working round the clock to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book,” he stated.