Man Sets Village Ablaze Over Witchcraft

A 35-year-old man, Mr. Tyoakaa Ijoho, has allegedly set 10 thatched houses ablaze in Adambge Village, killing a 111-year-old blind woman, Mama Martha Gyuse Bonko, of Vandeikiya Local Government Area, Benue State.

Eyewitnesses say that, Ijoho, who lost his father to a snake bite recently, was bitter and had gone to consult an oracle to ascertain the cause of the death of his father.

It was gathered that the native doctor, whom Ijoho consulted, allegedly told him that some of his family members had a hand in the death of his father, a development which prompted him to leave his place of abode in Konshisha Local Government Area of the state and headed straight for his village where he set the houses on fire.

One of the villagers, Abraham Chafa, told journalists that his mother, Mama Mezaga Chafa, aged 75, tried to help the 111-year-old woman out of one of the thatched houses but could not due to her age.

He explained further that his mother, who was not too strong, had to abandon the old woman who was eventually burnt to death by the fire, which Ijoho had set, adding that Ijoho, had left the community 18 years ago only to reappear that fateful day to set the village on fire.

He disclosed further that through the help of able-bodied youths and vigilante men, Ijoho was arrested and handed over to the police in Vandeikya while the body of Mama Martha Gyuse Bonko had been deposited at a private hospital in Tsar Mbaduku.

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Daniel Ezeala, said he was yet to be briefed on the incident.

It was in Adamgbe Village that a church building collapsed during a stormy rainfall on Easter eve killing 22 parishioners in the process.