Police burst ritualists’ den, arrest two suspects in Ekiti

• Teenager nabbed with female pant he intends to sell for N80,000
Ekiti State police command has burst a ritualists’ shrine in Odo, a suburb of Ado Ekiti, the state capital and arrested two suspected ritualists.

The Commissioner of Police, Asuquo Amba, who led a team of officers and journalists to the forest where the shrine was located, said the hideout could be a den of kidnappers, fraudsters and other undesirable elements.

Odo, where the shrine was discovered is a satellite town of about 10 kilometres to Ado Ekiti and it is home to a private polytechnic. Asuquo said: “We trekked a few kilometres into the forest before arriving at the well laid out shrine. We discovered a hidden underground in one of the houses at the shrine and there were fetish objects all over the place.

“These fake foreign currencies suggest that the operators of this shrine are fraudsters. These two men were apprehended when the police raided the hideout. The community head, Akitipa of Odo has also been invited by the police to assist in the investigation.“The heat is on, on criminal activities in Ekiti State as about 50 suspects were paraded on Wednesday this week for various offences,” he said.

The police boss, who described the den as fraudsters’ hideout appealed to the general public to always assist the police by giving them useful information which could help them to perform their duties.

Meanwhile, a 19-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly stealing a pair of female underwear in Odoakpu, Onitsha in Anambra State. The suspect, Chinonye Okorie of Mbaitolu, Imo State, was apprehended with the pant by the police in the area.Parading the suspect on Thursday at the police headquarters in Amawbia, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Haruna Mohammed, said the suspect stole the pant for alleged ritual purpose.

He said: “At about 6:48a.m., police detectives attached to Central Police Station (CPS) Onitsha arrested one Chinonye Okorie ‘m’ aged 19 of Ogbaku in Mbaitolu LGA of Imo State. The suspect allegedly stole a female pant washed and spread on a rope at No. 21 Umuna Street Odoakpu, Onitsha in Anambra State. He intended to sell the pant to yet to be identified persons at the rate of N80,000 for alleged ritual purpose.”

Mohammed added that the pant was recovered from the suspect as exhibit, assuring that efforts were on to apprehend other fleeing accomplices.
“The command implores the general public to be vigilant and report to the nearest police station any suspicious person or persons roaming around their vicinity for prompt action in order to avert this new trend of crime in the society,” he added.