Seven-year-old Abubakar Sadik, formerly of the Church of Christ School, Winneba, has been callously murdered, allegedly for ritual purposes notoriously known as 'sakawa'. The body of the young boy was chopped into pieces in a very dehumanizing manner. Although the incident occurred in December and two suspects, Ali, 22, and Saadu, 24, are on remand at the Winneba Prison, the father of the deceased, Hamza Gariba, has petitioned the Police Intelligence and Professional Standards (PIPS) Unit to register his frustrations at the manner in which some policemen were handling the case. The suspects, who are brothers, took the child to a nearby bush not too far from the University of Winneba for the murder. In the petition, Hamza Gariba, who at the time of the murder was a teacher at the Alkashmiya English/Arabic School at Gomoa Lome but now at Apam Junction, stated that his son, a class two pupil, was murdered on 7th December last year. He is at his wit's end as to why the vehicle used in the murder was quickly released to the owner by the police even before the case reached an advanced stage. Hamza suspects that the police are not helping the cause of justice and is therefore seeking the intervention of the IGP. Narrating the circumstances under which the kid was murdered, he stated that on that fateful day, his son, upon his return from school, was called by a certain Saadu Sabitu, one of the suspects being held, and was deceived his father wanted to see him. The child did not return and at about 8pm, Hamza said he received a call that his son was missing. On the next day, a certain "Zuberu, aka Holy Devil, came home from Accra and asked for details about the missing child." Zuberu called Abdul Wahab who confirmed that Saadu Sabitu brought the deceased to his house and that he even gave him money for the return trip home. Abdul Wahab and Zuberu went to the house of Saadu Sabitu to confront him but he said the kid was the son of his master (a steel bender). Upon further interrogation, he went to show them the crime scene where the blood of the deceased was drawn and the body severed into three pieces. "He showed us the room where they (Saadu Sabitu and AIi Sabitu performed the rituals," he added. The Winneba District Police, he stated, arrested Saadu Sabitu while his brother Ali Sabitu escaped to Mankessim but was traced and picked up. The car used in the crime was impounded and when it was searched, telltale items like a machete and knives were found. The deceased's father is apprehensive of the conduct of the police and fears that they are not supportive of the judicial system, explaining that one "Detective Mathew is refusing to send the right exhibits to the court." Hamza stated further in the petition that he went to see the detective to find out why he did not send the appropriate exhibits to the court since especially the doctor said a small knife he sent to court could not have cut the spinal cord of the deceased. The detective then became furious and told Hamza he could not teach him how to do his job. The deceased’s dad noted that the Winneba Police Commander intervened by asking that the matter be kept out of the media. But he added that the delay in releasing results of the blood sample of the deceased to determine its compatibility with the one on the fabric used for the ritual was also making him edgy and suspicious. An attempt to offer a bribe of GH¢2,000 by a cop along the justice chain to kill the case was turned down and the defaulter arrested, he told Daily Guide. "I wish to state the private car used in the crime has been re-sprayed into a taxi. I am appealing to your good office to assist me in the matter so that all involved will be brought to justice," he prayed. Saadu, he explained, is the spiritualist who demanded for human blood to undertake a spiritual exercise which led to the murder of the little boy. Outside the petition, the bereaved father recalled how he suffered an earlier plight when a certain Ibrahim, a 9-year-old boy living with him went missing, only to be found dead in a garbage dump after a downpour. Source: Daily Guide