How Female Student Was Killed By a Cannibal

ON May 2, when Idowu
Aliyu decided to embark on
a trip from her town, Egayi
back to Zamfara where
she's studying in the School
of Health Technology, little did she know that will be
the last time she would see
her family. Apparently, she
would have bade them
goodbye with smiles on her
face but fate lurked in the dark .The day was not only
full of evil but she ended up
being a victim of the evil. On every other day that
Idowu went to school, she
was always dropped at the
garage by one of her
brothers but on this
particular day, the brother was busy and Idowu was in
a hurry and couldn't wait
for her brother to return
from his busy schedule to
drop her at the park as
earlier agreed. Even the persuasion of her Uncle who
is their custodian to tarry
for a while for her brother
to come back fell on deaf
ears. Idowu was just in
hurry. Saturday Vanguard
gathered that the late
Idowu got an okada to
convey her to the park
which was driven by Jimoh
Obabu Salau. But unknown to her, Jimoh was an okada
man with an ulterior
motive. Saturday Vanguard
gathered that midway
through the journey, Jimoh
Obabu drove into the bush
where he took his time to
kill her. To achieve his aim, it was gathered Jimoh
smashed a stone against the
innocent victim and
subsequently ensured she
breathed her last. Idowu would have gone to
the world unknown
without people knowing
what killed her but
providence presented a
farmer who was watching from a close distance where
Jimoh had taken the victim
for the act. The farmer
quickly mobilised people to
the place where Jimoh was
caught trying to bury the victim. He was apprehended
and handed over to the
police. Jimoh confessed being
responsible for the death of
the 22-year old Idowu but
the confession is causing a
lot of controversy. Jimoh
specialises in using okada to lure victims to the bush
where he kills them for
meat and sell the remaining
part to ritualists. The police are of the view
that Idowu's death is not
only for meat but has a
ritual angle to it. Parading
the suspect, the state
commissioner of Police, Muhammed Katsina said
Jimoh Obabu Salau was
arrested while trying to
bury his victim, Idowu
Aliyu, a student of School of
Health Technology, Zamfara, aged 22 years. Kastina revealed that "the
suspect was dismissed from
the Army while on ECOMOG
duties in Liberia after
showing cannibalistic
behaviour. He was also arrested and sentenced to
death in 2003 for killing his
wife and two kids; eating
their intestine and selling
the remaining parts. The
suspect was however released from Kaduna prison
through the aid of
influential, wealthy and
highly connected
individuals." Ever since this revelation ,
the whole state has been
clouded in suspense. While
some believe that Jimoh is
only looking for 'meat',
others believe that a popular politician who is
seeking election is Jimoh's
sponsor. Those who are
alleging political undertones
to the murder of Idowu by
Jimoh hinged it on the fact that Jimoh had been very
close to the politician who is
among the top contenders
for the SSG office since it
was zoned to the area. Jimoh also appears to be
complicating the matter.
While not arguing that he is
guilty, he is said to be
singing a new song. Jimoh,
Saturday Vanguard gathered, allegedly claimed
the victim was brought to
him to kill by two other
men from the town rather
than the popular
assumption that he picked her with his okada. Jimoh
has since mentioned more
than six names of those
who 'brought' the lady to
him. Police investigations
revealed that the first two
persons Jimoh mentioned
their names were innocent.
When further prompted,
Jimoh allegedly mentioned other names which the
police discovered were
unconnected to the act as
well. As at the last count,
Jimoh who is now behaving
abnormal has implicated eight people as his
accomplices in the alleged
murder. Presently, police are in a
tight corner over how to
unravel the truth behind
Idowu's death. Is it a
political or ritual killing or
Jimoh's way of feeding his cannibalistic appetite? However, the family of late
Idowu Aliyu is now calling
for justice. They are calling
on the federal government
and police to ensure that the
killer of their daughter did not go unpunished. Head of
the family, Mr Aliyu Onuto,
who spoke with Saturday
Vanguard in his compound
in Egayi, Ajaokuta said late
Idowu was killed on her way to board a vehicle to
Zamfara state where she
was schooling. Mr. Aliyu noted with
dismay that although the
suspect has been arrested
and he has confessed to
committing the crime, he is
yet to be charged to court for prosecution. "Idowu had
dreams but could not live to
actualise her dreams due to
blood thirsty Jimoh. I
understand he killed his
wife (a police officer) in 2003 and was let off the
hook without punishment.
If justice had prevailed that
time, this would not have
happened. "Today it is
Idowu, tomorrow it might be another person. All that
we want is for justice to be
done," he said. Mr. Aliyu, the uncle of the
slain victim who revealed
that the late Idowu and her
siblings lost their parents
recently and that he has
suffered to take care of her along with her younger
siblings wondered why
Jimoh could take the life of
his innocent niece who was
promising and looked as if
she would aid the family after graduation. The state police command is
however saying the delay
in prosecuting Jimoh Salau is
due to the fact that they
believed he must have
accomplices who buy some of the human parts from
him as he could not have
been alone in the crime. The state Police
Commissioner, Mohammed
Katsina said the cannibal
who was dismissed from
the Army usually eats the
inside of his victims and sells the other parts to ritualists
and "so, the command is still
investigating to get those
buying the human parts
from him".