Ahead of the February 2015 general elections, there have been the gruesome murders of some people in the country, which suggests ritual killings.

Over the weekend, a woman was reportedly strangled to death by yet-to-be identified persons, who cut off her private parts.

Her corpse was abandoned on Oniyanrin Street in the Mile 12, Ketu area of Lagos State. This death was some days after two secondary school female students were killed and mutilated in Ondo State.

The corpse of the unidentified woman, who was reportedly a regular face in the community, and usually slept in one of the shops, was laid in front of a shop and covered with clothes.

An eyewitness said, “Nobody knows exactly what happened to her. We just discovered that they strangled her and cut off her private parts. We suspect that what they were really interested in was her private parts.

“This incident happened on Saturday and the corpse is already decomposing. We have been calling the emergency numbers for some time now, and they have not come around. Our fear is that the corpse could burst and spread disease in the area.”

He added that such incidents had become a common sight in the area, adding that a similar one was recorded last year.

“I believe it has a ritual undertone and may not be unconnected with the coming elections because a similar thing happened last year and it was a man. A part of his body was also removed while his corpse was abandoned,” he said.

After the matter was reported to policemen at the Ketu division, emergency officials later arrived around 4pm on Monday to pick up the corpse.

Meanwhile, Police Public Relations Officer, Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the incident and admitted that it was a sudden and unnatural death.

He added that the victim’s private parts were not cut off as speculated by residents of the area.

“It’s a case of sudden and unnatural death. No part of her body was cut off,” he said.