By Jonathan Ugbal and Elijah Ugani
An unidentified lady has been found dead in the Kutia axis of Betukwel-Kutia boundary, Obudu Local Government Area of Cross River State after allegedly been beaten in Betukwel village in the early hours of Sunday May 3, 2015.
The lady CrossRiverWatch gathered from security sources, was allegedly beaten over allegations of witchcraft in Betukwel village and died moments later at Kutia village.
When CrossRiverWatch visited the scene on Sunday, policemen and the Special Adviser on Peace and Security to the council, Patrick Agogo among others were present at the scene but details concerning her death were not clear. The deceased was later taken to the mortuary.
While speaking with CrossRiverWatch, the SA on Peace and Security, Patrick Agogo stressed that investigations are ongoing as well as autopsy to ascertain the possible cause(s) of death.
His word, “Investigations are ongoing and autopsy will be carried out to ascertain the cause of death and I don’t think the rumors of her been beaten in Bekwarra to Utugwang to Mbeneghe and Okworotung before Okworotung people dumped her in Kutia is anything to go by or how would she have been beaten in Betukwel again?
“People often use such cases to create stories that cause problems; also there is negligence on the part of Kutia who did not call the police when they discovered a corpse in their village. So far we have gathered she is related to Alege and she was burnt to some degree and the accusation is that of witchcraft”.
According to him, “two out of four suspects who are principal actors according to eyewitnesses have been arrested.”
When CrossRiverWatch visited Betukwel village, people were mostly indoors due to rains and efforts to get one Ada Ubaba who allegedly called the police were futile as he could not be found after several visits to his residence.
Some Betukwel youths who spoke on condition of anonymity claim there has been a gale of arrests since Sunday with the police demanding as high as twenty five thousand as bail from those arrested, an allegation which CrossRiverWatch could not confirm as at press time.