Lagoswas yesterday in a frenzy, following the discovery of a den of
ritualists in a tunnel at Obadeyi Bus Stop, Ijaiye-Ojokoro, along the
Lagos-Abeokuta expressway.
Two suspected ritualists smoked out from the tunnel were burnt alive, while two others were arrested by policemen and soldiers.
Daily
Sun gathered that at about 6am yesterday, some staff of Lagos State
Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), responsible for sweeping the road,
heard a woman shouting for help in a canal leading to the tunnel.
Concerned
about the woman’s plight, the LAWMA staff alerted passersby, who
attempted to enter the tunnel but could, as it was dark. The police and
members of the vigilance group, Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), were
alerted.
An eyewitness, Wasiu Abiodun, told
Daily Sun: “When we looked through the carnal, we saw pants and clothes
believed to be from victims of ritual killings. There is a tunnel that
links the two sides of the expressway.
“We
called the police, who arrived in company of soldiers attached to OP
MESA. When the security agencies came, some of us entered the tunnel,
and heard footsteps of people running further into the tunnel under the
expressway. We were able to catch four people in there.
“Two of them were of set ablaze. The other two were rescued from the crowd by the policemen and soldiers, who took them away.
“While
the crowd was beating the two suspects, who were later set ablaze, one
of them confessed that they were ritualists, who abducted people, killed
them and used their body parts for rituals.”
He revealed that this confession infuriated the crowd, which descended on the suspects and set them, ablaze.
A
member of the OPC, Jasmine, said the police were afraid to enter the
tunnel, and boasted: “We entered, the tunnel was dark. We saw some
charms and fetish objects; we also saw people’s clothes, but we did not
see the woman who was crying for help.
“One of
the suspects who was set ablaze told us that they were 28 in number.
Four suspects have been found. The police and Army took away one
suspect each alive. So, we still have 24 in the tunnel. We will see to
their end; if it is going to take a week, we will remain here until we
fish them out.”
The DPO of Meiran Police
Division, Chief Superintendent of Police Okoi A. Akpama, confirmed that a
distress call was made to his station yesterday morning, prompting the
dispatch of policemen to the scene.
He said before policemen arrived, one of the ritualists had been lynched and set ablaze.
He disclosed that the first detachment of policemen, seeing the mood of the crowd, called for reinforcement.
Daily
Sun gathered that the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai
Owoseni, has detailed the canine section to deploy sniffer dogs to the
tunnel.
A senior police officer said two suspects had been lynched before the police arrived.
“We
rescued one other, as he was about being lynched. There was a mammoth
crowd at the scene, which caused gridlock on two sides of the
expressway. The crowd chanted: ‘All we are saying, the ritualists must
be fished out and their captives set free.’”
He said the police authorities had ordered some personnel to remain at the scene till the canal was fully accessed.
A
resident of Odushola Avenue, Oduwole Adebayo, said he entered the
tunnel with others, revealing: “There is no contradiction about it. The
people seen and burnt were rituals. What will people be doing in a canal
and a tunnel? I pass through the place daily. Why won’t I rejoice that
they were arrested? It could have been me.
“If ritualists had been operating there without people and security agencies discovering it, then nobody is safe.”
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