Another Deadly Ritualists Den Busted In Ogun State [Details]

Residents and passers-by in Iyana Ilogbo area of Ogun State were stunned on Saturday as men of the state Police Command uncovered yet another deadly 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, acting on a tip off, swooped on the den at 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 men were arrested in the operation, which lasted for about 30 minutes.

The suspected ritualists arrested were Babatunde Taofeek and Hammed Hassan. Two of their accomplices were said to be on the run.

By the time Punch arrived at the den, the police had evacuated the decomposing body and the items of other victims found in the den. 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.

A resident said, "Their secret was leaked 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 said 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, DSP Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the incident and the arrest of the suspects.

He said effort was ongoing to arrest the owner of the abandoned filling station, adding that the suspects were under interrogation.

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.