Decomposed bodies of two boys found in Tamale, ritual killing suspected

The bodies of two children who went missing on Saturday, June 22 at Kakpayili, a suburb of Tamale have been found in an abandoned vehicle.

The lifeless bodies of the two children were found on Sunday, June 30, eight days after they went missing.

This has thrown the Tamale metropolis into a state of shock.

They have been identified as Arafat and Ayaa.

They reportedly informed their parents they were going to visit a neighbor on June 22 and never returned.

Relatives and community members searched the neighborhood for days and did not find them.

Police investigations

Police investigations however led investigators to the abandoned vehicle on Sunday morning where they discovered the bodies of the two.

The neighbour, behind whose house the said abandoned vehicle had been parked was immediately picked by the police, Graphic Online gathers.

But after initial questioning, the suspect, Abdul Rahaman Madaha was granted a police enquiry bail.

On Monday morning [July 1], some youth allegedly attacked the suspect’s house, destroyed properties and burnt portions of the house down 

The Assemblyman for the Kakpagyili Electoral Area, Hafiz Andani, told Graphic Online’s Mohammed Fugu that the youth suspected ritual killing because the bodies of the children were found in the abandoned vehicle behind the suspect’s house.

He said some residents saw the children in the suspect’s house hours before their disappearance, for which reason, they suspected his involvement, adding that it took the timely intervention of the police to rescue him from mob attack. 

Dauda Neindow, the father of one of the victims said “my child went missing on Saturday June 22 and on June 25 we reported the case to the police after we made several radio announcements and searched around the entire community”.

He said he suspected foul play and appealed to the police to thoroughly investigate the matter to unravel the perpetrators.