For the mother of Salome Adaidu, the slain Nasarawa State indigene serving the nation under the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), it has been an agonising one year. Having lost her husband about seven months ago, the gruesome death of her daughter, Salome, must be one of her scariest nightmares.

Salome had allegedly been murdered by a gospel singer, Timileyin Ajayi.

The Nigerian social media space has been suffused with varied stories of the alleged killing. This type of killing, outrageous as the sordid details sound, has seemingly become more rampant in the country, given the recent increase in social crimes like kidnapping, assault and banditry. Thousands of Nigerians have been victims.

Majority of the victims are often young women, either as victims of circumstances like those allegedly murdered for ritual purposes, in relationships, or even in actual marriages.

There has also been a steady rise in domestic violence, with more female victims often explained out as due to economic or social issues, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The contradictions in the life and narratives of the alleged suspect, Timileyin, in the killing is curious. He is known as a gospel singer, in which case he is assumed to be a Christian whose tenets include obeying the 10 Commandments, one of which is, “Thou shall not kill”. His gospel singing presupposes he spreads his faith through songs. We wonder the nexus between his call and the alleged murder.

The suspect has faced a barrage of media interviews and he has been very unapologetic about his alleged dastardly act. In fact, he has been sounding very discordant, fuelling rumours that he might have some serious mental issues. He claims he killed her because he saw some text messages on her phone indicating she was cheating on him.

While we understand that there are crimes of passion, we suggest that the state must carry out a thorough investigation to establish his mental health first.

He claims he is not remorseful and makes other infuriating statements that seem to portray him as mentally challenged. To us, this angle of the story must be a pointer to the neglect of mental health issues in the society.

The general outrage is understandable but mental health issues is a global problem handled by countries with all seriousness to preempt crimes and social disruptions like the one in question.

Moreover, the security and law enforcement agencies must be better trained and empowered. It is sad that a crime as heinous as the one under review was discovered by citizens who were observant enough to accost the suspect after seeing blood dripping from a bag he was carrying. The mob almost gave him the jungle justice before he was rescued by the police.

There is limited policing of the citizens due to a number of reasons. The lack of sufficient manpower, monopolisation of the greater number of the policemen by politicians and top businessmen, and sundry issues impact on the efficiency of the police to do their duties to the citizens.

Crime is a global issue but countries make and implement policies and laws that can deter people from criminality. Salome is not a lone victim of this type of crime. There are reported and unreported killings, especially by criminal gangs and bandits across the country. Sometimes, certain cases are brought to limelight due to the status of either the victim or the suspect, as in this case.

In the case of another female gospel singer, Osinachi, an alleged victim of domestic violence by her husband, her status made her case newsy. But thousands are murdered daily for different reasons by different brands of criminals, some even for ritual purposes when the suspects are obsessed with becoming rich on the fallacious beliefs that human sacrifices would be their key to instant wealth, in lieu of hard and honest means of livelihood.

We condemn any extra-judicial killing by either state on non-state actors. We as a country must be more proactive in prevention than reactionary. The judiciary and the state must work in unison to prosecute murderous criminals as a deterrent to others.

We don’t want this case to be swept under the carpet like several others. It must be thoroughly investigated and culprit/s prosecuted. (The Nation Editorial)