Met in new bid to catch boy's voodoo killers

Police investigating the murder of a five-year-old boy whose headless torso was found in the Thames 10 years ago are to travel to Nigeria in a new attempt to track down his killers.

The boy, who police called Adam, was found washed up close to the Globe Theatre dressed only in a pair of bright orange shorts. A forensic inquiry found that he had been drugged in a ritual voodoo killing.

Detectives believe the boy, originally from Nigeria, was smuggled into Britain from Germany. They are to travel to Nigeria to interview a woman who claims she looked after him for a year in Germany before she handed him over to child traffickers.

Mother-of-two Joyce Osiagede said the boy's name was Ikpomwosa and claimed a "small group" of people killed him. Police told the Standard today that despite Mrs Osiagede's claims and a photograph said to be of Ikpomwosa they had still not been able to positively identify the child.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Dunne said a team would travel to Lagos to interview the woman, adding: "This young boy was brought into the UK for the purposes of a ritualistic slaughter.

"We have to send a message to traffickers that we will solve this and we will not tolerate this in London. This is also the only murder of a young child not solved in the history of the Met."

The force has issued a £50,000 reward for information leading to the identity and conviction of the killers in one of their biggest murder inquiries.

Detectives enlisted Nelson Mandela to issue a worldwide appeal for information and used pioneering scientific techniques to identify the potion used to drug the boy.