A 12-year-old boy has been allegedly shot by his uncle on a farm and secretly buried under the cover of darkness at Mankuma, a suburb of Bole District in the Savannah Region.

JoyNews' sources in the community revealed that on Sunday, 30th October 2022, the mother of the deceased, left the boy under the care of his uncle who later picked him up on a motorcycle to the farm with a locally manufactured gun fully loaded.

The sources indicated that the deceased's uncle later returned home with information that the boy climbed a tree, fell, broke his neck and died instantly.

The source said the corpse was later smuggled into town the same day in the evening as part of a cover-up by the uncle.

An eyewitness, whose name has been withheld told JoyNews that, "a small boy died by gunshot and they quickly buried the body by trying to hide the information from the Police. The uncle of the boy went to farm and shot the boy. Yes, he shot the boy and told a lie that the boy fell from the tree and broke the neck", he indicated.

"And when they went there, there was somebody who is not a native among them who realised that the boy was actually shot and did not fall from a tree. So, the person asked what happened and the man narrated that they were three on the motorbike. Two plus the small boy and that the boy wanted to climb the motor and sitting at the back, he mistakenly touched the trigger and the gun fired by killing him instantly", he added.

The eyewitness said "when they brought the body to the community, they lied to the people that he (deceased) fell from a tree.

"If they were to bath the body like the way a corpse is usually bathed before burial, the people and the police would know but they told the people that they bathed the body on the farm and so, they buried the body without bathing it. They did everything secretly", he stated.

But JoyNews' checks at the Savannah Regional Police command show that the incident has not come to their attention yet.