A 40-year-old man, Taiwo Amos, has confessed to killing a herdsboy in Roro Village, along Mile 8, under Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State.
Amos said he had gone to his farm after church to check if a trap he set had caught any animal for his family’s meal. On arrival, he met a herdsboy tending cattle alone. According to him, he suddenly felt an irresistible urge to kill the boy.
“I don’t know what came over me. A voice just told me to kill him,” Amos confessed. Armed with his father’s hunting gun, he shot the boy dead. He claimed that it was only after pulling the trigger that he regained consciousness of his actions and realized the gravity of the crime.
Startled by the cattle fleeing the scene, Amos said he waited until nightfall before burying the victim in a bid to cover his tracks. He admitted cutting off the boy’s legs before the burial.
Initially, he lied that some people had ordered him to commit the crime, but later retracted the claim. He said he confessed after being threatened that rituals would expose the killer of the herdsboy.
“The boy was innocent. He did nothing to deserve that kind of death. He didn’t even destroy my farmland. I was just afraid of dying mysteriously after what I did, so I surrendered myself to the police,” he said.
Amos has since pleaded for government leniency, saying he acted under an inexplicable influence.
