Badoo kills mother, two children in church

The dreaded Badoo ritual killing group, on Tuesday, struck, killing a mother and her two children inside a church at Temu village in Ikosi Ejirin Local Council Development Area of Lagos State.

The attack came just as residents of Lagos, especially inhabitants of Ikorodu axis were beginning to heave a sigh of relieve that the ugly and dreaded activities of the Badoo ritual killing group was now a thing of the past.

The incident happened at Temu community around 2am. The killers were said to have scaled the fence of the church, gained access into the premises and killed the victims.

The murdered woman has been identified as Iyabo, while the two children were David four and Rachel eight. Eye witnesses claimed that they were murdered in their sleep.

The victims, who travelled out of the community two weeks ago, returned just Monday and were murdered inside the church, which they used as their residential.
The victims were also said to be members of the Celestial Church of Christ. Iyabo’s husband was not around when the group struck.

According to residents, the victims moved into the community three months ago, and had been living inside the church.

One of the residents, Mr. Adeshina Idowu said: “The death of the family took everyone by surprise. The family moved into the community six months ago. We were surprised when somebody came to call me that Mama David was a dead. When I got to the scene, the assailants had killed the woman and her two children who were with her in the church. I don’t know how the assailants got into the community. We have security guards patrolling the community. How they entered into the victims’ compound without the guards seeing them is a mystery.”

Another resident, who simply gave his name as Tajudeen, said: “Immediately we discovered the incident, we informed Agbowa Police Division. What bothers us the most is that the family just returned to the village on Monday, and was killed that same day. Initially, we thought it was an armed robbery case. But when we entered into their apartment, we saw a stone used by the assailants. It was at that point we realized and agreed that it was the handiwork of Badoo men.”
Policemen from Agbowa Police Division were said to evacuate the remains of mother and children, and deposited them at mortuary.
Reacting to the incident, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Edgal Imohimi said that it was a case of murder. He said that two persons, a woman, who owns the building where the victims were killed and a commercial motorcycle rider, had been arrested in connection with the incident.

He disclosed that although a mother and two daughters were attacked, one of the daughters survived. He explained that the girl, who  appeared to be in shock, was rushed to hospital and later discharged. He noted that investigation had commenced into the killings.

Imohimi said:  “ We have visited the scene and can tell you authoritatively that it’s a clear case of murder. The landlady and motorcycle rider have been arrested. One of the victims watched television throughout the night with one of the suspects in our custody. This case has nothing to do with ritual killing as is being speculated.”