Kogi State Police Command has apprehended the stepmother of the 11-year-old boy buried alive on Wednesday by the woman’s 17-year-old son.
SP Williams Ovye-Aya, spokesman for the command, revealed in Lokoja that the woman was apprehended on Thursday, October 12, after returning from the church.
Passers-by rescued the 11-year-old on Wednesday after his stepbrother had buried him in a bush at Silo community in Zango Daji, Adavi Local Government Area of Kogi.
The 11-year-old boy allegedly stole N10,000 belonging to his stepmother, who instructed her son to punish the suspect before heading to church.
In meting punishment to the 11-year-old, the 17-year-old took his stepbrother into the bush, where he buried him alive, throwing the entire Kogi into bewilderment.
Police immediately arrested the 17-year-old,
“Our officers and men were able to arrest the stepmother on Thursday after a tip-off. She is now in our custody.
“She has made a statement to the police on the sad incident.
“We shall transfer the mother and son to the Criminal Investigation Department for further interrogation of reasons behind such cruelty among family members.
“It is unfortunate that the father or breadwinner of the family was said to have traveled. We are waiting for him to return to give us his statement
“Once the investigation is concluded, we shall arraign the mother and son,’’ Ovye-Aya said.
However, the Kogi government pledged to prosecute the 17-year-old boy and the mother.
Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Fatima Buba, made the pledge on Thursday, October 12, in Lokoja when she spoke with journalists over the incident.
