An elderly woman escaped lynching on Wednesday after being
accused of being a bird and witch in the Ajegunle area of Lagos State.
According to residents of Ojo Road, where the purported
transformation took place, the woman was a black bird before suddenly turning
into a human being.
Hundreds of residents were said to have gathered around the
woman to lynch her.
An eyewitness, Chike, said he was sitting in front of a
compound with his girlfriend when they saw three black birds flying.
He said it seemed as if the birds were involved in a fight
and as he was watching, suddenly, one of the birds fell into a moving van
belonging to the Eko Electricity Distribution Company while the other two flew
away.
He said, “The bird suddenly turned to an old woman of about
80. People were shocked as they saw the woman rolling on the road and blood
gushing out from her forehead.
“When the crowd was interrogating her, she said she was a
witch and that she came from Ibadan for a meeting in Lagos but as they were
returning home they missed their way and wasted so much time hovering in the
area till daybreak. The woman claimed she fell because she was tired of
flying.”
It was learnt that as the woman was about to be lynched,
the traditional ruler of Layeni Community, Baale Rafiu Olayeni, arrived the
scene and pleaded with the angry people not to take laws into their hands.
Olayeni told our correspondent that he called the
Divisional Police Officer of Layeni Police Division, CSP Chijioke Ndu, and he
drafted anti- robbery policemen to the scene, rescued the woman and took her to
the station.
Hundreds of spectators were said to have followed them to
the station.
The traditional leader said, “People told me the woman fell
down as a bird but I did not believe them. I had to rescue the old woman before
the mob lynches her as they claimed she was a witch. Sometimes the reasoning of
old people could be compared to that of a small child because of the effects of
old age.”
At the station, however, the police found it difficult to
control the mammoth crowd that had come to see the alleged witch.
It was learnt that the DPO had to call for reinforcement
from Ajegunle and Amukoko divisions before he could handle the crowd as some
people were bent on lynching the woman.
The policemen were said to have fired tear gas at the crowd
and dispersed them from the station.
It was learnt that the woman was subsequently transferred
to the Area B Command in Apapa for further investigation.
It was gathered that this was the seventh lynching the
police had prevented this month.
Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, could not be
reached for comment.
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