Police arrest the son of a cocoa farmer who was killed in Osun

Unknown assailants have killed a cocoa farmer, identified simply as Bale, on his farm in Ilusi village, Osun State.

As it turned out, his son Saidi, who was said to have accompanied him to the farm, was being held by the police in connection with the crime.

Bale is said to have been beheaded on his farm on the day he was about to start harvesting his produce.

Sources in the village say the remains of the deceased were discovered on his farm on Friday, although he had gone missing several hours before the body was found.

A villager, identified simply as Sakariyau, who spoke to PUNCH Metro on Sunday, said Bale went missing last Thursday and after an intensive search in the village, his body covered in leaves was found on his farm the next day.

He further said: “Before he (Bale) was found at his farm on Friday, he could not be found anywhere in the village since he left for the farm.

“When we got to his farm, we searched everywhere and found his remains covered in leaves. Unknown people cut off his head.

“Then the people around him, who suspected Bale’s son, who had accompanied the deceased to the farm on the day he was murdered, attacked him.

“He was severely beaten because people knew that he had gone with his father to the farm to harvest cocoa. He initially denied killing the man, but later confessed to the crime while being severely tortured by an angry village youth.

“The harvested cocoa and the deceased’s motorcycle have already been found on the farm. The boy was later handed over to the police and then taken to Iperindo station for further investigation.”

When asked for confirmation, the spokesperson of the Osun Police Command, Yemisi Opalola, said she had been informed.

Opalola said: “The suspect has been arrested on suspicion of killing his father. I have been informed about this. The investigation is ongoing.”