Gunmen butchered 73-year-old pensioner in Ekiti

A 73-year-old pensioner, Mrs Adetutu Ajayi, was on Tuesday killed in Ado Ekiti by unknown gunmen, which some residents suspected to be ‘Yahoo boys’.

Mrs Ajayi, daughter of the former Accountant General of the Old Western Region, Mr Samuel Sotoowa , was killed at her residence on number 10, Moferere, Ajilosun area of Ado Ekiti.

The deceased was found in the pool of her blood in her three bedroom bungalow by church members around 11: 00 noon with her fingers cut off, her body including her head macheted beyond recognition.

The mother of five , who lived alone in the flat with a tenant occupying the ‘boys quarters’ built at the back of her house , was a retiree of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, where she worked for 35 years before retirement.

Speaking on the gruesome murder, the deceased’s daughter, Mrs Titilayo Ajayi , said she was called from Akure , capital of Ondo
State around 11pm by church members that her mother sustained injury , which she said made her to rush down to assess the situation.

“When I got here , I saw my mother in the pool of blood. Her blood had been drained and taken away because a bucket Mama left in the store was taken away which we believed were used to drain blood and her fingers were cut off which made us to suspect that it was done by ritualists.

“She ought to attend the crossover vigil at CAC , Voice of God within this street but when the Pastor could not see her, she was worried and sent a delegation to look after her and when they got here, they saw her lifeless body and they immediately raised the alarm.

“We saw the record Mama left on calendar because anytime she woke up around 5am , she would take her bathe and marked the calendar and we saw the calendar marked on that day which suggested that she was
killed after 5am. ”

She said her body had been deposited at the morgue of the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti.

She begged the police to conduct thorough investigation into the heinous crime and bring the perpetrators to book while also begging
for the cops to fast-track the investigation so that her mother can be buried in due course.

The 82-year old husband of the deceased, Mr Clement Ajayi who lived at Irun Ekiti, described the incident as “sad , pathetic and
surprising,” saying it confirmed that the livesof Nigerians were no longer safe.

“I could not imagine myself seeing my wife being massacred like that,over what. In fact, her head, eyes, hands , laps and neck were
butchered , you could hardly identify her. It was a gruesome murder and justice must be done in this matter”, he said.

A tenant, who lives in the adjoining boys quarters, Mr Aina Joel, said she didn’t hear of any noise from the deceased’s flat in the night
and that there was nothing to suggest that she had died when he left home for work as of 8am on Tuesday.

Joel also agreed with the insinuation that the deceased must have been killed at daybreak or around 10am in the morning.

When called to confirm the story, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Ekiti Command , Mr Alberto Adeyemi, said the woman has been taken to the morgue.

“Yes, we are aware. We got the information and our men are working round the clock to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book,”he said.