Three individuals were paraded by the Kwara State Command on Friday. They are said to be ritualists and con artists.
The suspected accused Mahmud Abdulraheem, a herbalist from Egbejila, Ilorin, Abubakar Bamidele, and Odekunle Fawad, both from Lagos, are the suspects, according to Police Commissioner Mr. Paul Odama.
He said, “While on intelligence patrol of the Metropolis, Oc CP Monitoring section and his team around General Hospital Roundabout, Ilorin, accosted the above named suspects who were already in a commercial vehicle on transit to Lagos and on body search, assorted charms and other fetish items suspected to be for ritual purposes was recovered from them.
“Upon interrogation, it was revealed that the second and third suspects came from Lagos to Ilorin to meet the first suspect who is a herbalist to do money making charms for them.
“It was also confirmed that the two suspects from Lagos are internet fraudsters popularly called Yahoo boys. They were on their way to Lagos to complete the money making ritual process before they were arrested.”
In a related occurrence, two males, Adeniyi Wasiu and Habeeb Morufu, both 27 years old, were detained on suspicion of possessing narcotics and psychiatric drugs.
According to the Police Commissioner, the two were detained on May 23, 2010, at around 1100 hours, in the Tanke Oke Ogun Ilorin neighborhood of Alao Farm, Kwara State. During the investigation and search of the suspects’ home, the detectives found some items that they suspect to be illegal drugs.
The psychoactive substances that were discovered included some weeds that were perhaps Indian hemp, some Tramadol sachets, eight bottles of codeine syrup, some ice sachets, one sachet of Refnol, some colorado sachets, and some skunk sachets.
“On interrogation, the suspects confessed to be the owners of the drugs and that they sell the drug to students and interested members of the public. Effort is on going to arrest others at large.
“The suspects would be transferred to NDLEA for conclusive investigation and prosecution.
Additionally, Odama presented five suspects, including Aluku Ridwan, Kabiru Fatai, Saadu Alubu, and two women, Aminah Muhammed and Zainab Lawal, who were allegedly members of a hidden cult and a ring of thieves.
He said that evidence found in their hideout, a black location near the Gambari/Oja Gboro area and Kokewu-Kobere region in Oja Gboro, where they spent the winter, comprised two knives, a quantity of dried plants thought to be Indian hemp, and hard narcotics thought to be ice.
“Investigation conducted revealed that the arrested suspects are members of secret cults that terrorize innocent citizens of the area and dispossessing them of other valuable properties.”
At the completion of the inquiry, the Police Commissioner stated that all suspects will be prosecuted in court.
