The father of the 11-year-old boy allegedly buried alive by his stepbrother at Apamsede, in Kogi, identified simply as Mr Oshodi, is said to be on the run.
It was gathered that the shovel and the cutlass allegedly used to perpetrate the dastardly act by the stepbrother were also missing.
Passers-by rescued the 11-year-old on Wednesday after he had been buried by his stepbrother in a bush at the Silo community in Zango Daji, the Adavi Local Government Area of the state.
The 11-year-old boy was alleged to have stolen N1,000 belonging to his stepmother who instructed her son to punish him.
In meting out punishment to the 11-year-old, the 17-year-old took his stepbrother into the bush where he allegedly buried him alive.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Kogi, SP Williams Ovye-Aya, said Oshodi travelled and that the police were waiting for him to return for his own side of the story.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that a visit to Apamsede community on Saturday revealed that the father of the victim had absconded and that when the incident happened the father of the victim was at home.
The district head of Apamsede, Malam Garba Ahmed told the news agency that on the day of the incident, the father of the 11-year-old boy, the stepmother and the stepson were summoned to the palace of the traditional ruler on what led to such act.
“When they came to the chief’s palace, Mr Oshodi, the father of the 11-year-old boy was present at the palace when both the stepson and stepmother gave reasons for their action,” the district Ahmed explained.
“The boy’s father probably ran away when we insisted on inviting the police to handle the matter.
“The stepmother and her son, Goodness, had confessed to committing the dastardly act.
“But the traditional council of our community has decided not to harbour such people in our land.
“Once the stepmother and her son finished facing the wrath of the law, we shall banish them from this land.
“But before we banish them, we will ensure that the family offer a sacrifice to cleanse the land,” he said.
The police team which brought the boy’s stepmother to their house in Apamsede on Saturday morning discovered that the shovel and cutlass allegedly used in burying the teenager were missing.
Although the house was under lock and key, the police team observed that there were some changes in the environment unlike what they saw on Friday during their visit.
“Somebody must have entered this your house. Yesterday, when we came here the house was locked and the window curtain inside wasn’t down as we can see now.
“Some of the things that we met outside here yesterday are no more here. Somebody must have come around here.”
The police who had to break the lock and key to gain entrance into the house when the woman claimed that she had no key to the house, alleged that most of the things inside the house had been taken away.
“Where’s the shovel and cutlass you said were in the house? This is because nothing is here. Somebody must have packed the valuables here,” one of the officers said.
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