*Cancer victim among those chained up
Chiemelie Ezeobi
Following last weekend’s raid of the Ojodu home of a self-acclaimed prophet, Emmanuel Adeyemi, where the police rescued 28 people, including 13 children and 15 adults who were chained, THISDAY gathered on Tuesday that detectives have also discovered shallow graves in the house and in the swamp behind the house.
This is just as it was gathered that despite claims by the suspect that all those chained were mad, the police were able to ascertain that one was a cancer patient, who had developed sores from being chained up.
While 27 others had been taken to the Lagos State Government rehabilitation centre, one was however taken to the hospital as she was very weak and had terrible sores from the chains.
The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, CP Fatai Owoseni, acting on a tip-off, deployed operatives at the Area G Command Headquarters, to the house located at Oyinbo Unity Estate, Olamidun Close, Yakoyo, Oke-Ira.
Although the initial intelligence report was that a teenager, Adeyemi ‘s stepson, 17-year-old Toba Adedoyin, was chained, subsequent intelligence by the police revealed that 27 others were also locked up.
Confirming the incident, Owoseni said they had initially invited the suspect to the station based on a tip-off, and he claimed his chained his stepson to cure him of the spirit of stealing.
He said, “When we got information that a teenager was locked up in a house, the Area Commander had invited the suspect, who claimed that his son was known for stealing and so he locked him up in chains to cure him of stealing.
“While we were still on that case, we got another credible tip-off that there were other people chained in that same house.
“Of course, we carried out a raid and confirmed the allegation to be true. But before then, we had contacted the Lagos State Government because we don’t have the facility to keep the rescued persons.
“His claims now that he was arrested is that he is a herbalist, but why didn’t he tell us that when we first invited him to the station over locking up his stepson? He only told us that he wanted to cure his son of stealing. “
On allegations of shallow graves being found in the residence Owoseni said, “We had another tip off that they were people he buried in that compound and he confirmed it during interrogation.
“Because the area is swampy, the suspect had allegedly buried some people in the swamp and about three others in the house.
“When we asked him of their identities he said it was some of his patients that were brought to his home from the hospital, after they were given up for dead, that finally died in his care and were buried in the swamp.
“When we also queried him on the claims that he used the body parts of the deceased to sell to ritualists, he swore that he was only a traditional healer and not a human parts seller.”
Owoseni said investigation is ongoing, as the police is working assiduously to get the root of the matter.
