Police hunt for gang who murdered woman with hunchback sold by her son to them for ritual purposes

DETECTIVES from the Ondo State Police Command have launched a manhunt for a group of ritual killers who killed a 60-year old woman with a hunchback which the hoodlums who included her son thought would fetch them millions.

Mrs Rukayat Abodunde, was abducted by armed men who invaded her home on Ayetoro Street in Ondo town,  the headquarters of Ondo West Local Government Area. Police are now searching for the gang, including the woman's son who was said to have conspired with the ritual killers and sold her to them.

One family source said the deceased who sold fish beside her house was abducted by two gunmen who pretended to have come to buy fish from her around 10pm in the night. He said the two men started shooting into the air to scare away people and then dragged  Mrs Abodunde into a waiting vehicle

Apparently, the gunmen reappeared few days after the abduction, demanding the refund of the sum of N7m they paid to her son. Apparently, the kidnappers were said to have discovered that the hump was not a natural one but was a result of a domestic accident, so was not useful for their ritual purposes.

They then threatened to kill the young man if he failed to refund the money but he in turn insisted that the killers must also return his mother alive before the money could be refunded and he has run away from the house since then. According to the source, the young man had used part of the money to buy clothes for the deceased before her abduction and also spent some of it to renovate and repaint the house before the incident.

Police spokesman Femi Joseph, said: “The incident was reported at the police station and the police swung into action to ensure the release of the abducted woman. We interrogated the people in the area but it was unfortunate that members of the family are not showing enough interest in the disappearance of the woman."

He added that some family members visited the station to notify the police that they were no longer interested in case but will like to handle it in a  traditional way. Mr Joseph, however, said the police are still investigating the incident and promised to unravel those behind the crime.