A policeman and a 75-year-old man have died after being attacked by a suspected lunatic in Ondo state.
File photo
The Ondo State Police Command on Sunday said it had arrested a suspected lunatic, popularly called At all at all, in Tekunle village, in the Ondo East Local Government Area of Ondo State, for killing two people with a machete in the Ayeyemi area of the state, Punch has reported.
According to the report, the two people killed by the lunatic were a policeman and a 75-year-old man, identified as Mr Olusegun Oyadele. The identity of the deceased policeman had yet to be revealed as of the time of filing this report.
No fewer than four other people were also injured in the attack carried out by the suspected lunatic on Saturday.
A source in the community told our correspondent that the lunatic, who was well known in the community, first attacked the old man who was drying cocoa beans in front of his house, after which he killed one of the policemen that came to arrest him.
The source said, “We don’t know why the madman attacked and killed the old man. When the matter was reported at the police station, a team of policemen was sent to the area to arrest the lunatic.
“As the policemen arrived at the scene, the madman also attacked and killed one of them with his machete. He injured four other people before running into a bush.”
The source said attempts by the policemen to arrest the lunatic were not successful.
“Each time the policemen wanted to arrest him, he disappeared and reappeared like it was a prank. He finally disappeared into the bush and escaped arrest,” the source added.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Femi Joseph, said the lunatic was eventually arrested after a team of policemen, led by the Commissioner of Police, Mr Gbenga Adeyanju, chased him into the bush on Sunday.
He said, “We have arrested him. The CP led a team of policemen, some hunters and vigilance group members to arrest him in Tekunle village. He is in our custody.”
The PPRO stated that the corpse of the deceased had been deposited in a morgue, while investigation had commenced.