Another suspected ritual killers’ den uncovered in Lagos

Some of the syringes

Samson Folarin

Two people on Wednesday were killed by an irate mob in the Mushin area of Lagos State over suspicion of involvement in kidnappings and ritual killings.

PUNCH Metro learnt that while one was butchered and set ablaze on the road, the other, who had been beaten to a stupor, died at the police station after rescue.

The incident happened at Challenge bus stop, Mushin.

On August 9, two people were set ablaze by a mob in the Obadeyi-Ijaiye end of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway for allegedly operating a ritual den in the community.

On August 11, a man was also killed at the Ile Zik bus stop, Ikeja Along end of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, over a similar allegation.

Our correspondent gathered that the lynching of the two suspects in Mushin started after a vulcaniser sighted a ‘mad’ man discussing with another person in a tunnel at the Challenge bus stop around 6am.

The vulcaniser was said to have raised the alarm as residents gathered around the scene.

However, only the ‘mad’ man was seen, as his interlocutor had fled.

The ‘mad’ man, who was tortured by the residents, allegedly confessed that his gang had been operating in the tunnel for the past three months.

Some members of the Oodua People’s Congress were said to have led a search team into the tunnel and found hundreds of syringes. The tunnel reportedly linked different parts of the community.

When our correspondent visited the scene, some of the syringes allegedly used by the suspects were seen on the ground.

A resident, Mr. Sulaiman Adio, said the ‘mad’ man disguised as a woman when he was first sighted by the vulcaniser.

He said, “When the youths of the community tore his clothes, they discovered that he was actually a man. He was wearing a woman’s bra and wig to disguise. The discovery came to us as a surprise and the policemen came and took him to their station at Olosan.”

PUNCH Metro learnt that the police, after rescuing the suspect, smoked the tunnel around 6.15am and a suspected ritual killer came out.

He was reportedly hijacked by the youths, beaten and set ablaze.

The mob was later dispersed by some soldiers.

A woman, who identified herself as Lady Gold, said four Automated Teller Machine cards and three phones were recovered from the ‘mad’ man.

“We don’t know that we are living in the midst of ritual killers. The state government should act fast on the ritual killers’ dens discovered across the state.

“The ‘mad’ man told us before the police took him away that they used the syringes to incapacitate victims they dragged into the tunnel before butchering them,” she said.

A source at the Olosan Police Station confided in our correspondent that one of the suspects brought to the station died due to the severity of his injuries.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, who condemned the resort to jungle justice by residents, said five suspects had been arrested for taking the law into their own hands.

The CP said there were three suspected kidnappers involved in the actual incident, adding that they were arrested with ATM cards and mobile phones.

He said, “One of the suspects was lynched, but the other two are in custody. Five suspects, who took part in the indecent act of jungle justice, were also arrested.”