IZUNNA OKAFOR
A middle-aged man and his girlfriend were on Wednesday, paraded naked with dead bodies of persons allegedly killed by them for ritual purposes.
The incident happened at Ihiala, Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State, and happened exactly one week after a suspected ritualists similarly murdered a septuagenarian and cut off his genital organs in Umunze, Orumba South Local Government Area of the State.
The two suspects captured in Ihiala were accused of indulging in internet fraud (popularly known as Yahoo Yahoo), and were accused of killing the victims for ritual purposes.
Viral videos from the scene of the incident show some dead bodies loaded in a wheelbarrow, while the accused were forced to push them turn by turn.
The accused were paraded down to the community market, as the crowd kept forcing them to push the corpse-filled wheelbarrow without resting, while also filming and torturing them at the same time. Stains of blood and marks of torture were also seen on their bodies, showing that they had been manhandled by the mob.
According to a source, the suspects were apprehended by the villagers based on a tip-off by some residents, who saw them at the scene of the crime and reported them to the youths.
This, according to a source, made the youths of the community to mobilize themselves, storm the scene and arrested the duo.
Reacting to the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer for Anambra State Police Command, DSP Ikenga Tochukwu, said the Command’s operatives have rescued the suspects, whom he said were erroneously accused.
DSP Ikenga, in a statement issued on Thursday, said the incident was not a case of ritual killing, but a pure incident of murder; adding that the State Commissioner of Police, CP Echeng Echeng, has sued for calm and ordered the immediate transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Awka, for a comprehensive investigation.
“The Command operatives by 10 am yesterday 7/6/2023 rescued two victims and a suspect who was about to be lynched by an angry mob at the Total junction, ihiala.”
“To set the records straight, it was not a case of ritual killing but a pure incident of murder. Preliminary information reveals that the two victims a man and a woman, who were humiliated and paraded as shown in the video by the angry mob were erroneously accused by the mob as they were seen at the scene, where the murder took place. Also, both the suspect and victims are currently receiving treatment in the hospital. While the deceased has been deposited in a morgue.”
“The Commissioner of Police CP Echeng Echeng while reacting to the incident sued for calm and ordered the immediate transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Awka for a comprehensive investigation.
“Further developments shall be communicated, please.”