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| Picture source: Family of victims |
I walked into the street of Dankarang in Kuru, Jos South, cautious, almost tiptoeing –journalists have the oxymoronic personality of being hated and admired simultaneously. There is often the question of why you are requesting this information and whether or not you are an impersonator. Sometimes, they believe you are who you say you are but remember something another journalist wrote that worked against them in a way they find difficult to forgive, leading to the transfer of hostility.
I was in Dankarang to confirm the credibility of an alleged story of one Davou Boyi who set the community on fire by abducting toddlers, poisoning them and harvesting parts of their bodies.
The three kids had gone to St. Ambrose Kibuka Catholic Church, Dankarang on Sunday 20th April. Only one was found alive, two
days after they had vanished. When the news spread, the parents were informed
of a clairvoyant Fulani man. The Fulani man was contacted. He gave his
conditions, after which he lived up to his promise by confirming the kids were
still within the community and that the community should ensure no comes into the community or leaves while a house-to-house search is conducted. He
promised that the culprit would turn himself in. Lo and behold, Mr Boyi
approached neighbours, saying, “I have seen some kids in one of my cars and I
am not aware of how they got in.”
According to my informant, three plates of meals were allegedly discovered after a search of Mr Boyi’s house. Two of the meals had been eaten while one was untouched, confirming that he was the culprit behind the horrendous incident –two of the three kids had died while one was still alive.
The enraged community took laws into their hands, setting Boyi’s three-bedroom apartment ablaze and burning four cars that were parked on the terrace of the house. But the worst was the killing of his sister, Mrs. Laraba Gyang, who the villagers claimed was not only unmoved by the horrific act of her brother but arrogantly defended him. She was killed in front of Dankarang Police Station and burnt with a tire.
The people of Dankarang never trusted Mr Boyi, a man who gallops as he walks because of his bad legs. It is alleged that there used to be a guy who washed his car. The guy is said to have suddenly vanished one day and was never seen again and a lot of people believe that Boyi has something to do with it.
Despite the cloudy atmosphere around his
reputation, Boyi is known to give loans to people and some of the cars that were
burnt in front of his house were securities for loans he has given. It is
alleged that, during the search of his house, there were about a dozen
refrigerators he had also accepted as securities for loans he had issued.
Dankarang is a Berom community. Mr. Boyi,
a former teacher, is also a Berom man, albeit from another community. The
incident, particularly the unaliving of his innocent sister, has strained
matters among, not just between Dankarang and Vwang (the Berom ward from which Boyi
comes) but the Berom tribe as a whole.
The inability of the Dankarang people to restrain
their emotions has led to the killing of an innocent person in a manner that is
more horrific than the crime that provoked them.
