Three arraigned over child killings

Njombe. Three suspects in the brutal killings of children in Njombe appeared before the Njombe Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday, facing various murder charges.

Joel Joseph Nziku, Nasson Alfred Kaduma and Alphonce Edward Danda were arraigned at around noon yesterday.

Reading the charge sheet before Resident Magistrate Magdalena Ntandu, state attorneys Ahmed Seif and Yohana Misango said the accused killed three children from the same family named: Godlivar Nziku, 11, Gasper Nziku, 8, and Giliad Nziku, 5, on January 20 at Ikando Village, Kichiwa Ward, Njombe.

Magistrate Ntandu told the accused that they were not required to enter any plea because the court did not have the legal jurisdiction to handle the cases.

“You will only listen to the charges against you, but you will not be allowed to respond to the accusations until the case goes to the High Court, which has the legal jurisdiction to handle murder cases,” she said.

State attorney Seif said investigations into the case were incomplete.

Resident Magistrate Ntandu adjourned the case to February 25 when it will come up for mention.

Security was tight when the three suspects were brought before the court. Six vehicles, carrying armed police officers, escorted a lone vehicle carrying the suspects all the way from Makambako where they had been held since they were arrested in connection with the killings.

Makambako is some 60 kilometres away from Njombe.

Regional authorities say at least ten children have been killed in Njombe in a period of one month and that the killers were also chopping off the children’s reproductive and respiratory organs in the killings that are linked to superstitious beliefs.

Kidnapped

It is alleged that Joel Joseph Nziku kidnapped the three children – whose father is his (Joel’s) own uncle, Danfold Nziku – when they (the children) were playing outside their parents’ house on January 20, 2019 before they were found dead, with missing body parts almost one week later.

Danfold told The Citizen late last month that though he was the one who personally took care of Joel since his (Danfold’s) brother died when Joel was a toddler, things changed after the latter (Joel) reached maturity stage.

“Under unexplained circumstances, he started complaining that I was the source of his every misfortune….He started throwing harsh words at me, saying I was bewitching him and that I have trained my three children in the science of witchcraft,” he narrated.

On 20th January, 2019, Danfold and his wife were busy selling roast meat at a bar hall at Matiganjola Village in Njombe. “At 6:00pm, my wife went home with meat so she could instruct the children to cook food. She found them there but when we returned home at 10:00pm, we were suprised to find out that all the three kids were not in the house,” he said, adding that it was strange to note that the kids were not in the house yet the doors were open and that in the kitchen, there were signs that they were in the process of preparing food before they left.

Thunderstruck by what they had seen, Danfold and his wife started searching for their children’s whereabouts from their neighbours and that was how a brainwave of what might have happened pricked into their minds. “In the first house, we met the parents and one child who said he was also playing together with our children when Joel came with a Fuso-type vehicle; picked our children and left,” he explained.

Read:Girl, 7, found dead as child killers spill more blood