Suspected ritualist dies mysteriously in Ondo

A 36-YEAR-OLD suspected ritualist, identified as Augustine Daniel, in Akure South Local Council of Ondo State, has died mysteriously while trying to perform some rites in his house.

The unfortunate incident happened last Sunday morning at No.11 Igbalaye Street, Akure, the capital city of the state.

Daniel was found lifeless in his sitting room with some fetish items such as a bottle of Seaman Schnapps, a bottle of Jik bleach, a knife and two dead fowls that were supposedly prepared for another round of rituals.

The Guardian learnt through investigation that the remains of the deceased had been deposited in the mortuary for further examination at the State Specialist Hospital in Akure.

Pieces of information garnered from relatives and neighbours of the suspected ritualist revealed that Daniel was an auxiliary nurse in an undisclosed hospital.

He was reportedly said to have locked himself inside his living-room during the clandestine ritual activities, which eventually led to his demise.

A source confirmed that his wife scampered out around 11:00 am on Sunday morning, raising an alarm on the unfortunate incident. He said the neighbours rushed to his room after breaking the door leading to the parlour, only to meet him stark naked and dead on a chair.

Another source in the environment, who is his neighbour, disclosed to The Guardian that they had been suspecting the activities of the deceased for more than four weeks before the unfortunate incident occurred.

The source accused the deceased of engaging in illicit ventures in the house, which he converted to an illegal hospital, performing abortions for young ladies across the metropolis.

The source, who craved anonymity, remarked that whenever they confronted him on the nefarious activities, he would threaten her and others with diabolical charms.

The neighbours accused his wife, Folake, of being a party to the incident, but she denied it and told them that her husband informed her he was travelling on Saturday evening.

Folake, who is pregnant now, The Guardian learnt, has been cautioned and threatened by the relatives of her late husband not to speak to anybody on the matter.

This has engendered heated arguments between the residents of the house and the deceased’s family, also, as all efforts to speak to the wife proved abortive consequent upon the instruction given to her by the family members.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Wole Ogodo, confirmed the incident and said the matter had been transferred to the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for proper investigation.

According to him, the wife of the deceased came to the police station to report the incident on that fateful day after the door was forced open and they found the body of her late husband in the sitting-room.