Ogun State community in shock after discovery of ritualist's den

  For residents of Abule Oke, in Ado-Odo/ Ota local government area of Ogun State, last week Saturday’s bust of a ritualist’s den in their domain shocked deeply. Located along the ever-busy Abeokuta- Lagos road, with a boundary with Ifo local
government, thousands stormed the abandoned Ayokunnu filling station early on Saturday to catch a glimpse of the bizarre discovery. Allegedly found by the police and the inquisitive crowd after the news of the discovery broke, were what looked like the remains of a male victim, clothes, shoes, wigs, a machete, some bags and even a lady’s bra.

The first portion of the story which broke was that two persons who had initially been taken to the den to be killed, escaped and efforts by the ritualists to recapture them failed. According to the reports, the failed recapture of the would-be victims attracted passersby who swooped in on the place and alerted the police. It was further alleged that angry residents broke down parts of the building, which led to the discovery of decomposing human parts. Some of the ritualists were said to have escaped,
but the duo of Babatunde Taofeek and Hammed Hassan were arrested.

When Daily Trust visited, residents declined to speak, till this reporter was led to the Baale (traditional head), Adekunle Adebayo’s abode. Clad in a white robe and cap to match, he said the community was still in shock over the bizarre incident.. Adebayo said: “From the report of those who arrested them, it happened that a young man was sleeping in front of his house adjacent the road, because of the blackout. He saw two persons crossing the road,believing that they are going through the road beside the Ayokunnu filling station. He could see that one of them was dressed like a woman, and walked into the filling station, thinking she had gone to ease herself.”

He continued: “About 10 minutes later,the young man did not see anybody coming out and immediately alerted two others to station themselves around the station. The woman came out with a parcel on the head, and it turned out later that it was a man dressed like that. The youth approached them and held a
stick which he used to trick them into thinking was a gun. It worked as the duo
kept still. It was when they were asked to ring out the contents of the parcel that
pieces of a dead person were discovered.”

By the time day finally broke, Adebayo said, people from far and near were thronging the scene, with plans to mete out jungle justice. “When I got there, I pleaded with them and quickly contacted the police to come and pick them. One of them claimed that he is a younger brother of the owner of the filling station.

In fact, he called out the man’s mobile number from memory, and when I dialled it, it was true. I tried four times and the call was not picked.” Adebayo said some time ago, the community had written the filling station’s owner to come and clear the growing weeds, and it was done. “So it is shocking that such practice is going on there,” he said.
A resident told Daily Trust that: “We had suspected that criminal activities have been going on there, but when a young man made moves to report it, he found himself being suspected.
The community youth leader (Akeweje), Omolaja Popoola, said his fellow youth won’t relent in the fight against crime.

“We have been living in peace here. In fact, those coming into the community
late in the night have never been harassed or molested, so this discovery
in our community is very shocking,” he said.ssed or molested, so this discovery in our community is very shocking,” he said.

As part of measures to boost security in the area, Adebayo noted that all uncompleted buildings will have to be identified and the owners notified to take action on them.

Police Public Relations Officer,Olumuyiwa Adejobi, who confirmed the incident, said the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Sango Division and men of the Anti-Robbery Squad acted swiftly and arrested the two suspects. He said the suspects were found at the scene in possession of the lifeless body of a man believed to have been killed by their gang.

"We are also making efforts to arrest the owner of the abandoned filling station while the suspects are under interrogation. The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Abdulmajid Ali, has ordered that the case be transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department of the Command, at Eleweran, Abeokuta, for further investigation.”

As Daily Trust was leaving Iyana Ilogbo,the state CID team arrived with one of the suspects, and two sniffer dogs to continue with the investigation.

Also, the police command has declared the owner of the filling station wanted,  “As he definitely has a case to answer,” Adejobi said by phone.