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| The Victim |
Earlier yesterday (Wednesday), an old woman (Picture in this post) escaped lynching
after being accused of being a bird and witch in the Ajegunle area of Lagos
State.
Hundreds of residents were said to have gathered
around the woman to lynch her.
An eyewitness named Chike, said he was sitting in front
of a compound with his girlfriend when they saw three black birds flying. It seemed as if the birds were involved in
a fight and as he was watching, suddenly, one of the birds fell into a moving
van belonging to the Eko Electricity Distribution Company while the other two
flew away.
He said,
“The bird suddenly turned to an old woman of about 80. People were shocked as they saw the woman rolling on the road and blood gushing out from her forehead.
“When the crowd was interrogating her, she said she was a witch and that she came from Ibadan for a meeting in Lagos but as they were returning home they missed their way and wasted so much time hovering in the area till daybreak. The woman claimed she fell because she was tired of flying.”
The traditional ruler of Layeni Community, Baale Rafiu Olayeni,
arrived the scene and pleaded with the angry people not to take laws into their
hands.
Olayeni called the
Divisional Police Officer of Layeni Police Division, CSP Chijioke Ndu, and he
drafted anti- robbery policemen to the scene, rescued the woman and took her to
the station.
The traditional leader said,
At the police station, the policemen had to have fire tear gas at the crowd and dispersed them from the station.“People told me the woman fell down as a bird but I did not believe them. I had to rescue the old woman before the mob lynches her as they claimed she was a witch. Sometimes the reasoning of old people could be compared to that of a small child because of the effects of old age.”
“She has not committed any crime and will, therefore, be released to any member of her family who shows up. We did not arrest her. We only prevented a likely jungle justice,” the police source said.
It was gathered that this was the seventh lynching
the police had prevented this month.
HBC: So this poor old lady was almost killed because somebody who was probably extremely hungry and hallucinating said she is a witch? Na waOooO... When will we ever change my country people? Please lets think before we act otherwise we are no different from animals.
Residents
of Ajegunle area of Lagos were, yesterday, thrown into shock, after a
bird was said to have transformed into an old woman who confessed to
being a witch.
The dark-complexioned nonagenarian with tribal marks, who spoke in Yoruba, told a bewildered crowd that she was on her way back to Ibadan, Oyo State (as a bird) when she missed her track.
She was also said to have told the mammoth crowd that her mystical powers disappointed her because it was dawn.
Eye-witnesses told Vanguard that three black birds were seen at about 7am, flying side‑by‑side along Old Ojo Road.
Then, all of a sudden, one of them landed on a moving pick‑up van owned by Eko Electricity Distribution Company.
An eye witness who identified himself simply as Mr Okafor said: “Immediately the bird landed on the van, it transformed into an old woman.
“Everyone ran away at first but we later gathered round the woman only to discover that she had a bruise on her forehead with which she landed.
“When we asked her what her mission was, she said three of them were sent to Lagos from their coven in Ibadan but that on their way back, they missed their way.
“She said they started hovering in the area until it was morning, adding that she fell because she was tired.
“She also told us that she initially did not want to embark on the journey and that she used to restrict her witchcraft activities to Ibadan because of her age.
“She was thereafter taken to the Baale of Ajeromi, where she confessed to have killed her husband through witchcraft.”
Policemen from Layeni Police Division were said to have been contacted to prevent the woman from being lynched and they came and took her away.
Police sources told Vanguard that the woman would be released to any of her relations who shows up, explaining that the law does not recognise witchcraft.
“She has not committed any crime and will, therefore, be released to any member of her family who shows up. We did not arrest her. We only prevented a likely jungle justice,” the police source said.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/05/bird-turns-old-woman-lagos/#sthash.IuzX3Wuy.dpuf
The dark-complexioned nonagenarian with tribal marks, who spoke in Yoruba, told a bewildered crowd that she was on her way back to Ibadan, Oyo State (as a bird) when she missed her track.
She was also said to have told the mammoth crowd that her mystical powers disappointed her because it was dawn.
Eye-witnesses told Vanguard that three black birds were seen at about 7am, flying side‑by‑side along Old Ojo Road.
Then, all of a sudden, one of them landed on a moving pick‑up van owned by Eko Electricity Distribution Company.
An eye witness who identified himself simply as Mr Okafor said: “Immediately the bird landed on the van, it transformed into an old woman.
“Everyone ran away at first but we later gathered round the woman only to discover that she had a bruise on her forehead with which she landed.
“When we asked her what her mission was, she said three of them were sent to Lagos from their coven in Ibadan but that on their way back, they missed their way.
“She said they started hovering in the area until it was morning, adding that she fell because she was tired.
“She also told us that she initially did not want to embark on the journey and that she used to restrict her witchcraft activities to Ibadan because of her age.
“She was thereafter taken to the Baale of Ajeromi, where she confessed to have killed her husband through witchcraft.”
Policemen from Layeni Police Division were said to have been contacted to prevent the woman from being lynched and they came and took her away.
Police sources told Vanguard that the woman would be released to any of her relations who shows up, explaining that the law does not recognise witchcraft.
“She has not committed any crime and will, therefore, be released to any member of her family who shows up. We did not arrest her. We only prevented a likely jungle justice,” the police source said.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/05/bird-turns-old-woman-lagos/#sthash.IuzX3Wuy.dpuf
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