The Ondo State Police Command on Wednesday said an investigation had begun into the death of a seven-year-old girl, whose corpse was recovered from a well in the Shasha area of Akure, the state capital.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the girl, whose loved ones didn’t want her name disclosed, was earlier said to be missing before her body was discovered in the well on Monday, days after she was not seen around.

A friend of the mother of the deceased, Adunni Azeez, told our correspondent that a neighbour was suspected to have been involved in the unfortunate incident.

“The mother’s neighbour has been having grudges with the family. From what we learnt, she kidnapped the girl, and her body was later found in the well at Shasha, Akure, along Ondo Road,” Adunni said, upon returning from a condolence visit to the deceased’s family, on Wednesday.

Claims of how the seven-year-old died could not be independently verified by PUNCH Metro as of press time, but Adunni added, “Her body was still fresh as of when it was discovered. The police have taken the corpse to the mortuary and promised to conduct an autopsy. We visited the place today and the family is still mourning.”

Another source in the area said, “The child had been missing for some days. According to talks on the streets, she was thrown into the well after she was killed. She was seven years old.”

Our correspondent contacted the state Police Public Relations Officer, Funmilayo Odunlami, who confirmed that the girl was indeed earlier missing before her body was found inside the well.

Odunlami said she could not give details or disclose the culprits involved in the girl’s death yet because an investigation was still ongoing.

“What we had initially was a case of a missing person. Later, the child was found in a well, the next day. Of course, an investigation is ongoing, but we can’t actually say this is the person who actually killed the child or threw the child inside the well,” the PPRO said.

Confirming the arrest of some suspects to our correspondent on Wednesday, she noted, “We have some suspects in custody but we can’t assume without the investigation.” (The PUNCH)