Man burns 111-year-old woman to death over witchcraft

Mr. Tyoakaa Ijoho, 35, has allegedly set a compound of 10 thatched houses on fire resulting to the death of a woman, Mama Martha Gyuse Bonko, aged 111, at Adamgbe village in Vandeikya local government area of Benue state.
Our correspondent gathered that Ijoho, whose father had died of a snake bite, was bitter and later consulted an oracle to ascertain the true cause of the death of his father.
According to one Mr. Abraham Chafa, it was after Ijoho was told by the fortune teller that his father’s death was linked to some family members that he came from Konshisha local government area where he had been staying for over 15 years that fateful Sunday and set the houses ablaze.
Chafa said his mother, Mezaga Chafa, 75, had attempted to drag the deceased out of the house, but could not.
Responding to a question, Chafa said the perpetrator had left the community for the past 18 years and had come on a revenge mission.
He said with the assistance of the vigilance group, the arsonist was arrested and handed over to the police in Vandeikya, while the body of Mama Bonko has been taken to a private hospital in Tsar Mbaduku.
Attempts to get the police spokesman for Makurdi command, Daniel Ezeala, to confirm the story proved abortive as his phone would not go through as at the time of filing this report.