A baker, Tina Ileogben, has been killed and her heart reportedly ripped out of her chest and stolen at her residence on Olowo Street, in the Alhaja Shifiwa area of Dopemu, Agege, Lagos State.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the victim, who was said to be working at a bakery, did not report for duty on Wednesday when one of her colleagues was instructed to check her at home.

On getting to the premises, it was learnt that the colleague met the door leading into her flat open and upon gaining entry, met her lifeless body on her bed.

A resident in the area, who gave his name simply as Segun, said the colleague quickly raised the alarm, adding that neighbours who rushed into Ileogben’s flat observed that her throat had been slit and her heart removed from her chest.

He said, “The incident has thrown people including her neighbours into confusion. People got to know what happened to Ileogben when her colleague came to her flat.

“Ileogben’s colleagues did not see her at work and one of her colleagues came to check her at home when they could not reach her on the phone. It was when the colleague got to her flat, met the door open and entered that he saw her lifeless remains on the bed.

“The person who perpetrated the crime slit her throat, put a hand into her neck to access her chest and removed her heart. People saw some of her intestines around her neck and a doctor who was also at the crime scene confirmed that her heart had been taken away.”

Speaking with our correspondent, Ileogben’s elder sister, Justina, said her sister was raped before she was killed, adding that her sister’s blood was visible in her flat.

She said, “I am dead already. I was at home when I received a call informing me that my sister had fallen and they needed my presence. I quickly rushed to her house and saw a lot of people there.

“I suspected something bad had happened, started crying and rushed to my shop. I later summoned the courage to go into her flat to find out what happened to her and saw her corpse.

“Blood stains were on the floor, wall, and her bed. When I looked closer at her corpse, I saw that the person raped her before killing her. The person used a knife to slit her throat and her heart was also removed from her chest.”

Justina, while demanding justice, urged men of the state police command to track down the suspect responsible for her sister’s death.

Contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident, noting that officials of the Lagos State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit had evacuated the deceased’s remains to the Mainland General Hospital, Yaba, for post-mortem examination.

He said, “One Akeem, a coworker of the deceased, and her landlord reported the case at the Dopemu Division. The deceased, Tina Ileogben, was supposed to report on duty but when was not seen, and the senior staff on duty instructed him to go and check up on her since she lived close to the company.

“On getting there, Akeem met her room open, he entered the room with two neighbours and discovered the lifeless body of the deceased naked in a pool of her blood with her neck slit. An investigation into the case is ongoing. Regarding the missing heart, nothing of such happened.”