The Edo State Police Command recently revealed that it bursted a ritual shrine in a building along Asoro slope, off Ekenhua road, Uzebu quarters in Benin city, recovering 20 mummified bodies and arrested three suspects. However, investigations have since revealed that it was mere propaganda to deceive the public of its readiness to combat crime, Adibe Emeyonu reports
Two weeks ago, Edo Police Command broke the news that it smashed a purported syndicate specialised in rituals, announcing the recovery of 20 Mummified bodies and arrest of three suspects in connection with the alleged crime.
The command in a press statement signed by the Deputy Spokesperson, ASP Jennifer Iwegbu, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), said the arrest was made possible through information made available to the police.
Iwegbu in the statement said: “In pursuance of its operational mandate of nipping crimes in the bud, Operatives of the Edo State Police Command today 17/08/2022 unravelled a suspected ritual shrine.
“Following credible information at the Command’s disposal that some corpse were discovered in a building along Asoro slope off Ekenhua road, Uzebu quarters, Benin city, operatives of the command immediately swung into action and mobilised to the scene.
“At the scene, three suspects, Chimaobi Okoewu ‘M’ and Oko Samuel ‘M’ both of Afikpo in Ebonyi and Gideon Sunday ‘M’ of Akwa-Ibom State were arrested while others fled. An intensive effort is ongoing to arrest the other fleeing suspects.
“Fifteen (15) mummified male corpses, three (3) mummified female corpses and two (2) mummified children corpses were discovered at the scene.
“To this end, the Edo State Commissioner of Police, CP Abutu Yaro, fdc, has directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of state CID to carry out a discreet investigation to unravel the circumstances surrounding the discovered corpses and therefore enjoins the general public to be calm as the command will continue to ensure the safety of all law-abiding citizens and those residing in Edo state.”
As soon as this statement was issued, the media in its tradition of informing the people, put same in public domain.
Added to make the police story look real was the release by the Edo State government through its media manager on the the same discovery not knowing that it was helping the police to spread falsehood without carrying out proper investigation before going to press.
There was however a backlash. This is because the police failed to conduct a comprehensive inquiry before inviting the media to brand the outfit where the purported bodies were found a den of rituals.
Again, upon further examination, it was discovered that the place is just a new mortuary which has not began full operation but was in the process of evacuating corpses from an old morgue to the new one. Not only that, the police swooped on the place following information by nearby residents in the area that it is a ceremonial home for agents of darkness.
However, the true identity of the place was uncovered the next day following a mild drama when one Osaro Nappiar, a resident of Benin came to identify his mother’s corpse as one of the mummified bodied at the uncompleted mortuary.
The man was among those who visited the site when the operatives of the Edo State Police Command were cordoning off the building described as a den of ritualists.
The clarification nevertheless was made when the command’s spokesperson, SP, Chidi Nwabuzor, said the man told the police that he actually deposited his late mother’s corpse at a mortuary run by one Chukwu Otu as he was looking for funds for a befitting burial.
“The man clarified that the owner of the place who is on the run (Otu) was operating somewhere at 1st East Circular Road, Benin City where his mother’s corpse was deposited,” he declared
Chibuzor further said the man told the police that his mother died at a hospital at Uselu last year so he took the corpse to Otu’s place but had not gone there since then because he had no money for the burial.
Nappiar said when he raised the money, he went to the place but was told Otu had relocated to Ekenwan road, Asoro area, and when he got there, they asked him to produce evidence of the corpse deposited there, but he was not with a card earlier given to him.
Notwithstanding the above revelation, the three “suspects” earlier arrested also corroborated Nappiar’s narrative that the mummified Bodies found at the uncompleted morgue were not for rituals purposes or victims rituals as the police would want the public to believe.
At the site, a refrigerator, the mummified bodies with mortuary tags, an area that looked like a shrine, a bed room and a stretcher was found in the uncompleted building.
One of the suspects, Chimobi Okoewu, who said he was supervising a POP work in the building, disclosed that the corpses were transferred to the new place, which is a proposed permanent site for a morgue. He said: “I was supervising a POP work in the building. The corpses they found there were the ones transferred from the place they were kept before to this new place.
“The owner of the place is a mortician. He was told by his landlord to pack out of his former place. So he decided to relocate the corpses to his permanent site which is his own personal building. He was in a rented apartment before now.”
Another suspect, Gideon Friday, said he had applied for the post of a driver, adding that he came to check if his application had been granted only to be beaten by youths in the community.
According to him, “I came to check if my application was granted having applied for a driving job here. So when I got to this place to ask for the director, some community people came and started beating me up.
“I told those that were beating me that I only came to check if my application has been granted but the community people didn’t listen and kept beating me. They later took me to the police station.”
Also, Samuel Okoh said the owner of the building is his boss who is a mortician. He said his boss owns the building, which is proposed site for a mortuary.
Members of the civil society group did not take it kindly following the above revelations, describing the police action as giving the state a bad name in order to score cheap publicity.
The CSO leaders, led by Osazee Edigin, Austin Enabulele and Aliyu Umwenu described the insinuation by the police that the place is a ritualists’ den as false alarm and an attempt to paint the good people of Edo in bad light.
They said the morgue might not be an illegal one or does not have the requisite permits to operate a morgue which should be subjected to thorough investigation by the police, but saying that it is a ritualists den is totally false.
“A call placed to the proprietor phone was answered by a police officer who stated that he is with them is an indication that the man is not on the run,” the trio declared, adding: “There was no ritualists’ den anywhere in Uzebu quarters of Benin City. The Edo state police command preferred to do media propaganda than do investigation first.
“Unfortunately, Edo State government is also sharing same information everywhere. What does it cost government to have its investigation network than spreading falsehood like the police too.
“The owner of the morgue is registered to carry out the business. He was given quit notice in his former place of business at First East Circular (Asuen Hospital) and he bought a new place and tried to quickly build it in Asoro hill where there were other two existing morgues already.”
According to them, “The name of the business is St. Gabriel Funeral and partners with an existing hospital. He had stopped taking in more corpses since he was given a quit notice. He decided to move all old remaining corpses to the new site. They have another morgue off federal road in Uselu by St. John’s Hospital.
“The said discovered shrine was what he worships as form of protection. He believes in it for the sustenance of his business. No fresh dead body was seen. They have a register of all the corpses seen in the videos circulating on social media space worldwide. The news became worrisome to us as Edo people have no history of ritualism or its likes.
“More troublesome to us is the fact that, it was the Police Public Relations Officer of Edo state command that led a media report on same which would have suggested that proper investigation would have been carried out to arrive at what was reported in the media.
Sensing the controversy that trailed the police report and the negative reactions it generated, Governor Godwin Obaseki gave the police seven days to carry our a comprehensive investigation into the purpose and ownership while calling for calm among the citizens of the facility.
Obaseki who sued for calm, gave this directive at a joint press briefing with the police at the headquarters of the Edo State Police Command on Friday.
Represented by his Special Adviser on Media Projects, Crusoe Osagie, Obaseki said the public would continuously be briefed on the progress of the investigations.
He said: “We want to call for calm from the public, we don’t want to preempt the outcome of police investigation but the police is actively doing their investigations. There are a lot of speculations going around; some people suspect that the place is a quack morgue, and could be for ritual purposes and we are giving that to the police.
“People have been apprehended and they are undergoing questioning. Some people are still being looked for. The governor has given seven days for them to come back to us with the details of what they have found out, was it just a morgue or is there any ritual involved? No conclusions have been reached yet so police will be allowed to do its work.
“We are going to continuously brief the public and we are also taking measures through the Ministry of Health to ensure that there is no public health crisis in that area. Edo is safe and there is no evidence yet that anything ritual is involved until the police are through with their investigation.”
On his part, the Deputy Commissioner of Police SCID, Olawore Oluwole who is handling the investigation assured that the police would do a thorough job.
But can the police contradict itself with an indicted report? This is difficult because the same people who spread the falsehood are the ones asked to carry out proper investigation. This might amount to hoping too much.
