Village head kills ward, dumps corpse in well

A village head in Niger State has been arraigned before a magistrate’s court in Minna for allegedly killing a man kept in his custody and dumping the corpse in an abandoned well.

According to the Police Information Report on the matter obtained by NationReformer.com, the 50-year-old traditional ruler of Madara in Kontagora LGA of the state, Malam Mohammed Sani, was alleged to have sometime in December last year killed one Abbas Usman who was kept under his care .

He was alleged to have used a hoe-handle to hit the deceased on the head causing serious injuries which led to his death.

The report said the accused person thereafter dumped the corpse in an abandoned well near his residence.

Our correspondent learnt that the offensive odour from the decomposing remains of the deceased attracted residents to the well, where the body was later found.

The village head pleaded guilty, even as he blamed the devil for his action when the case came up for mention at the Senior Magistrate 6 and the charges were read to him.

The offence is said to have contravened Section 221 of the Penal Code Law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria punishable with death.

The prosecuting police officer, Inspector Muazu Abdullahi, however objected to the bail of the accused person on the grounds that the case in question was not ordinarily a bailable offence and that investigation into the matter was still inconclusive.

The presiding magistrate, Hajiya Amina Musa, thereafter ordered that the accused be remanded in prison custody and adjourned the case to March 8 for further mention.