A 20-year-old SS 3 student identified as Nureni Kekereowo is said to have lost his life after he alleged that his two teenage friends used him for money ritual in Temu, a community in the Ikosi-Ejinrin Local Council Development Area, Epe, Lagos State.
Kekereowo said that his friends whom he identified as Daniel, 19, and Sunday invited him over to their house to have a meal and he slept off after he ate.
The deceased before his death said that when he woke up there was a calabash on his head.
A resident, Olatunji Ajao told Punch that Nureni was in pain while narrating the event and died the next day.
He said, “Nureni said his friends, Daniel and Sunday, called him to visit them, but he did not respond. When he eventually went, they gave him food. He said they put something on his head and that was how his neck became stiff and he could not turn it. He was in pain throughout the time he was unconscious till he died. The boys are not indigenes of this town; they are from Calabar, Cross River State.”
The victim’s relative, Atinuke, said the 20-year-old was unconscious when he was brought to her shop on Friday, October 7, 2022.
In her words, “People said he was by the roadside and when they approached him, he directed them down here. Although he was unconscious when they brought him, I did not know that they had used him for rituals. I even thanked them for bringing him to me.”
Speaking further, she said that the next day he was still feeling sick and unable to speak so they had to take him to different places, including spiritualists, however, he did not get better.
Atinuke said things became better when on Tuesday night they met someone who spoke into his ears and the deceased finally started talking. That was when he was able to explain what happened to him.
“He said he went to Daniel’s house where he also met Sunday and they offered him bread and beans, after which he slept off. He said by the time he woke up, they had put a calabash on his head. He died the following morning after he said those things,”
The deceased sister’s husband, Hassan Arogundade, said Nureni’s statement led to the arrest of two of the culprits.
He said, “After he spoke on Tuesday night, we went to apprehend Daniel; we also discovered that Sunday had run away. Daniel took us to one Evans, whom he said was also involved. We went there and arrested him as well. We involved the police and they were taken to the Epe Police Station.”
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, said he was not aware of the incident.
He said, “I have checked my records. I don’t have any report on it yet.”