Victim Not Suspect’s Girlfriend;
Family Of Woman ‘Beh£aded By Gospel Singer Alleges Cover-Up By Nigerian Police
The family of the late Salome Eleojo Adaidu, who was allegedly murdered and dismembered by a self-proclaimed gospel singer, Timileyin Ajayi, has accused the Nigerian police of attempting to cover up the case.
Speaking on Tuesday, the deceased’s elder sister, Patience Adaidu, expressed frustration over the lack of communication from the officer handling the case, ASP S. Danjuma.
According to Patience, the Orozo Police Station in the New Karshi Division, Abuja, where the case was initially lodged, has failed to provide updates on the investigation.
“The officers at the Orozo Police Station are not giving us any information,” she said, adding that there are indications that the case may be transferred to Keffi, Nasarawa State, despite the crime occurring in Abuja.
Patience categorically denied rumours circulating online that her sister was romantically involved with Ajayi. She emphasised that their family had no prior knowledge of the suspect, let alone any awareness of an alleged romantic relationship between him and her sister.
The family is calling for a thorough investigation and transparency from the police to ensure justice for Salome.
Patience said, “She left the house on Saturday, saying she was going to visit a friend named Maxwell. Then on Sunday, I received a call while returning to my place, informing me that she had been in an accident in Uke. Upon getting there, we discovered it was not an accident. It was more like a brutal murder. Someone had carried her away and killed her.
“He cut her body into pieces. When we saw her body, we didn’t even know what to do. We had to bury her somewhere around there. We left and returned the next day, Monday.
“That was when the police started providing some information, hinting that someone had murdered her. They took me to the suspect’s house, but I’ve not been allowed to see or question him. There has been no interaction or explanation given to me so far.
“They just said she was killed. I don’t know where he picked her up from. I don’t even know if he was a friend of my sister, because in my family, we’ve never seen that guy before. We don’t know him. He claimed he’s known my sister for the past year.
“We’ve never seen him, not once. We’ve never heard of his name in our lives.
“I don’t know how my sister got to know him, how they met, or what happened. Maybe she went to her friend’s place, and something happened there—we don’t know. All we know is that she’s dead. They cut her into pieces, removed her head, hands, legs, and toes.
“They even divided her hand into five parts, like someone butchering meat to sell it piece by piece. Thank God for the bike man who carried the guy with my sister’s head and saw blood dripping. He stopped the man and raised the alarm.”
“When the man was stopped, he gathered a crowd. He was telling them he would pay N100 million to the police, but the police did not accept,” she stated.
Lamenting her frustrations to SaharaReporters, she explained that one of the problems with the case is that it is not being handled at the police headquarters.
“‘The case is moving backward. It hasn’t been transferred to Abuja—that is the issue we are facing right now,” she said.
Patience continued, “‘The officers at the Orozo Police Station in New Karshi Division are not providing us with any information. We’ve heard from others that some body parts were buried elsewhere, but the police didn’t inform us. I’m the first daughter of the family, yet I’m only hearing bits of information from different places.
“I don’t know anything because the police have stopped communicating with us. As I speak to you right now, they are treating me like a woman who doesn’t need to know anything.
“I just heard that part of my sister’s body was found somewhere, and they buried it separately from where we buried her. We have to exhume the body, gather everything together, and give her a proper burial in my place.
“Salome doesn’t make friends with anybody. The only people she considers her friends are our firstborn and our lastborn. They confirmed that they don’t know the killer, nor have they ever seen him before in their lives.”
“I wish my sister were alive to tell us what happened. This guy isn’t saying anything, the police aren’t asking him anything, and they are not giving us any information,” she said.
Patience also revealed that the police are planning to transfer the case to Keffi, even though the incident happened in Abuja.
“We just want justice. We need the case to be brought back to the headquarters in Abuja. Let them start interrogating that guy. We want to know what happened to my sister,” she said.
BACKGROUND
Previously, it was reported that the disturbing incident occurred in Orozo, Abuja, where gospel singer Timileyin Ajayi was apprehended by churchgoers during a service.
He was found with a sack containing the severed head of a woman he identified as his girlfriend.
According to Umaru Caleb, a church member who shared the incident on Facebook, the suspect was apprehended during a Sunday service.
A fellow congregant reportedly felt compelled to stop the suspect and inspect the contents of a sack he was carrying. Upon investigation, the sack was found to contain the fresh head of the suspect’s girlfriend.
The congregant was horrified to discover the freshly severed head of a young woman, who appeared to have recently braided her hair in a stylish “million braids” fashion.
The church member immediately raised an alarm, prompting other worshippers to rush outside.
The suspect was severely beaten by the mob and subsequently interrogated about the origin of the severed head. According to reports, he revealed that the victim was his girlfriend, who had travelled from a distant location to visit him.
A video shows the suspect, seated on the ground, being questioned by onlookers. He claimed that a heated argument with his girlfriend escalated, resulting in her death.
According to his account, she grabbed a knife during the altercation, and in his attempt to disarm her, he inadvertently stabbed her fatally. He then admitted to dismembering her body to facilitate disposing of the remains.
Ajayi also claimed the remaining parts of the body were in his house.
