The Bayelsa State Police Command is investigating circumstances leading to the killing of a 14-year-old boy by an apparently mentally disturbed woman, who later died in police custody, ostensibly from the manhandling received from an angry mob.
Benedict Arugu said to be a megaphone preacher, reportedly dragged her victim, Joseph Thomas, outside his home and stabbed him to death in the early part of the morning, moments before he was preparing to leave for school.
The mood was sorrowful at Genesis street Okaka-Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, on Thursday, where the tragic incident occurred. Family members and other sympathizers gathered to console the mother of slain Joseph Thomas, who could not speak but would only wail.
Fourteen-year-old Thomas popularly called by his pet name ‘ Daddy boy’ was a student of Government Technical Okaka and the first son of his parents.
Neighbours described his horrible death as a big blow to his family, particularly to his mother who had lost a newborn baby, two weeks before.
It reportedly took the intervention of the police to extract the suspect, Arugu, who that same morning stabbed another young man from an irate mob who immediately began beating her.
The Bayelsa State Police Command which had confirmed the incident revealed that the woman later died in custody, and investigation into the incident is ongoing.
