Police parade suspected ritualists, fake doctor in Ibadan

The Oyo State Police Command said it has arrested two suspected ritualists, a fake medical doctor and some armed robbers who have been terrorising unsuspecting residents of the state.

It named the two suspected ritualists as Murtala Aliyu (30) and Saheed Raji (40) who were arrested for being in possession of human flesh while the fake doctor, one Mr. Orisanmi, was arrested at a village in Ibadan.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Abiodun Odude, while parading the suspects in Ibadan, the state capital at the weekend, said Orimisan, a 40-year-old fake medical doctor, had been parading himself as a worker of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.

Odude said: “The suspect, who claimed to be knowledgeable in curing some ailments through herbs, had been obtaining money from owners of chemist shops in Ibadan under the guise of checking for fake drugs.

“The suspect had gone to a drug store at Abanla village in Idi-Ayunre, in Oluyole Local Government Area of the state and fraudulently collected some drugs and money. A report was thereafter made to the Idi-Ayunre Police Division, which eventually led to his arrest.

“Further investigation carried out by detectives attached to the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (CIID) revealed that the suspect was expelled from the Delta State University College of Medicine due to his poor academic performance.

“Items recovered from him included a fake Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) identity card, a stethoscope, a pair of white overall and some certificates suspected to have been forged or stolen.”

Odude added that the Federal Highway Patrol team on a stop and search along Ogbomoso-Ilorin highway, arrested the two suspected ritualists in a commercial vehicle around 6:20p.m. on August 9, with a piece of flesh suspected to be human part.

“Aliyu, an Arabic teacher, later confessed he was given the flesh by Raji for money rituals; the second suspect was subsequently arrested at Idumota in Lagos State. In his confessional statement, Raji, a herbs seller, said he contracted the Arabic teacher to help him make charms that would make him record faster sales.”