Residents and passers-by in Iyana Ilogbo
area of Ogun State were stunned on Saturday as men of the state Police
Command uncovered a ritualists’ den in the area.
The den was located within an abandoned
filling station, Ayokunnu, about 20 metres from the popular Iyana Ilogbo
Bus Stop, along the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.
Policemen from Sango Division of the
command, who acted on a tip off, swooped on the den around 7am only to
discover a decomposing body of a male victim in the first open room in
the base floor of the one-storeyed building.
It was not only the decomposing body, other victims’ shoes, clothes and caps, including a machete, were also found in the den.
Two suspects were arrested in the operation, which lasted for about 30 minutes.
The two suspected ritualists arrested
were Babatunde Taofeek and Hammed Hassan. Two of their accomplices were
said to be on the run.
By the time our correspondent arrived at
the den, the police had evacuated the decomposing body and the items of
other victims found in the den.
But the spot where the decaying body was evacuated oozed offensive odour.
The abandoned filling station is located
at almost a lonely area, facing the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway. Many of
the buildings bordering the den on the right were uncompleted, and on
the left was an undeveloped parcel of land overgrown with bush.
Our correspondent observed that the bush
was being cleared on Saturday, perhaps on the orders of the owner,
because of the incident. Angry residents had destroyed the ceilings and
water closets in the building, which had unused pipes in some of the
rooms.
Many of the residents of the area did not want to talk to our correspondent about the incident.
Some of those who spoke gave two
versions to the incident. A resident, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, said the ritualists had been operating in the place for
sometime.
The resident said, “Their secret was
leaked on Saturday when some people who were returning from a vigil saw
them dragging some people inside the building and they quickly alerted
some people who called the police.’’
Another resident who did not want to be named told SUNDAY PUNCH
that two lucky captives in the custody of the ritualists escaped from
the building and it was in an attempt to recapture them that their
activities became known.
An okada rider in the area who could not be identified said corpses often littered the Ilogbo and Ilepa end of the expressway.
When contacted, the state Police Public
Relations Officer, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the incident and the
arrest of the suspects.
Adejobi, a Deputy Superintendent of
Police, said the incident happened at about 7am, and that the Divisional
Police Officer in charge of Sango Division and men of the Anti-Robbery
Squad, immediately swung into action after a tip off on the activities
of the suspected ritualists.
He said one Babatunde Taofeek and one
Hammed Hassan were found in the building with a lifeless body of a man
suspected to have been killed by the suspects.
Adejobi said, “Items recovered from the
scene included a cutlass, clothes, shoes and caps, the suspects were at
an abandoned filling station (Ayokunnu), at Iyana-Ilogbo.”
He said effort was ongoing to arrest
the owner of the abandoned filling station, adding that the suspects
were under interrogation.
Adejobi also said the state Commissioner
of Police, Abdulmajid Ali, had ordered that the case be transferred to
the Criminal Investigation Department of the Command, at Eleweran,
Abeokuta for further investigation.
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