Manager-Turned-Hawker Hack To Death By Assailant

The victim, whose relatives were unknown, suddenly appeared in the community more than a year ago.

A woman in her 50s, identified simply as Vivian, has been killed on Adewale Kuku Street, Millennium Estate, Gbagada, Lagos State.

She was said to be sleeping in an abandoned white truck parked in a bush on the estate when she was killed on Monday.

She reportedly had deep machete cuts in the head, neck and hand.

Residents reported the matter to policemen at the Anthony division who removed the corpse. Vivian had slept on the driver’s seat.

The assailant had smashed the glass window of one of the side doors. Our correspondent also saw bloodstains on the grass beside the truck.

A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said she was hacked to death.

He said, “The woman usually slept in the truck. But every morning, she would go to a house to get a bucket of water to take her bath. She was a loner.

“I once sighted an identity card with her, which indicated that she was a manager in a big company before things took a turn for the worse for her.

“I have known her for more than one year. She was intelligent and spoke good English. In fact, she attended one of the Pentecostal churches on this estate.”

The resident explained that Vivian, who hawked engine oil in jerrycans, was killed in the wee hours of Monday.

A trader, who asked not to be identified, said the victim might have been killed by those she was dealing with in the trade or suspected rapists.

She said, “She supplied engine oil to some people around here. She was a middleman between the suppliers and the receivers. It is possible that a deal went wrong and that was why she was killed. It is also possible some people had noticed that she always slept alone in the truck and had wanted to take advantage of her. She appeared to me to be mentally ill.”

The trader added that Vivian sometime left the estate for an unknown place at intervals of three weeks.

Our correspondent was told that a welder on the estate, who was alleged to be Vivian’s boyfriend, was arrested by the police on Monday.

A source told PUNCH Metro that the police tricked the suspect to the scene after a resident told the police that he was Vivian’s boyfriend.

He said, “When the police came to remove the corpse, a woman told them she had a boyfriend.

“The police then called the man and said they had a job for him. When he got there, they arrested him. The man who owned the plot of land on which she died was also invited.” 

Security men on the estate told our correspondent that the deceased always greeted them.

“She was respectful and rarely talked. She would just greet and go her way. I used to see her with jerry cans of oil. She was tall, dark and slim and should be about 50-year-old,” a security man said.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the incident. She said the police were investigating and seeking the relatives of the slain woman.She said, “It is a suspected murder case reported by a security guard and a woman in the area.

“They said around 11am, they found the woman, fondly called Iya Bola, in a pool of blood at a nearby bush close to the estate. They said they didn’t know who committed the crime or why.

“Operatives visited and found that she had deep machete cuts in her head, neck and hand. The corpse has been recovered and deposited in a mortuary for autopsy.”