CSOs in Edo fault police on 20 dead bodies discovered in Benin City ‘ritualists’ den’

Civil society organisations (CSOs) in Edo have picked holes in recent claims by the state Police Command over its discovery of 20 mummified bodies of adults and children in a building in Benin City.

According to the CSOs, their findings only suggested that the police may have been more of a sensational story than factual.

The CSOs said that from their findings, the said building where the mummified bodies were found is not a ritualists’ den, but instead a newly built morgue to house evacuated corpses from an old facility because the operator had been given a quit notice there.

The group also stated that statements made by suspected arrested by the police in connection with the discovery also support their position.

It would be recalled that the Edo State Police Command, through its spokesperson, ASP Jennifer Iwegbu, had in a statement, Friday, disclosed that the security operatives discovered an alleged ritual shrine where it found 20 mummified bodies and arrested three suspects.

 “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 corpses were discovered in a building along Asoro slope off Ekenhua road, Uzebu quarters, Benin City, Operatives of the command immediately swung into action and mobilized 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.

“15 mummified male corpses, three mummified female corpses and two 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,” read the statement by ASP Iwegbu.

However, reacting in their statement, weekend, the CSOs in Edo led by its Interim TEC Chairman, Leftist Austine Enabulele, described the police report as ‘worrisome and troublesome.’

“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.

It explained that from its findings, the said building where the mummified corpses were found is not a ritualists’ den, but a newly built morgue to house evacuated corpses from an old facility because the operator had been given a quit notice there.

“The operational name of the morgue is St. Gabriel Funeral Home with other offices at No. 24, Ist Federal Road, Benin City. It has branches in Anambra State, Ebonyi State, Murtala Mohammed Way and Ist East Circular road where the corpses were moved from.

“The shrine discovered was said to be a traditional form of worship by the proprietor as a spiritual protection for himself and the business.

“The police didn’t conduct investigation before addressing the media thereby raising an alarm of a ritualists’ shrine.

“As at the time of putting this report together, the police had not visited other branches of the morgue in different parts of the city.

“The videos of corpses in circulation revealed that some of the corpses had name tags and medical equipment were visible as well in the building. Further interview with one of the morgue personnel in another of their branch office revealed that there is a register of all the corpses in the facility and that some of the owners have started to call to take away their deposited corpses.

“Our team of investigators was denied access to the morgue by members of the vigilance group that have been stationed there.

“Flowing from the above, it is now convenient to state that, the insinuation by the police that it is a ritualists’ den is hereby debunked and dismissed as false alarm and an attempt to paint the good people of Edo in bad light. This is not to state that, 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”, the statement by Aliyu Unweni read.

Continuing, the group said: “Edo state government should have been seen mitigating against the spread of such negative story from the state, instead it was a major promoter of it. This is disappointing to say the least.

The group also clashed the State Government, for lacking its own intelligence gathering mechanism to filter stories as it was seen sharing the same misinformation from the police to the de-marketing of the state and her people to the outside world.

According to the CSOs, statements of some of the ‘suspects’ arrested by the police at the alleged ritualist den aligned with their findings.

“One of the suspects, Chimaobi Okoewu, who stated that he was supervising a POP work in the building, said that the corpses were transferred to the new place, which is a proposed permanent site for a mortuary.

“I was supervising a POP work in the building. The corpses they found there were the ones they 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, who said that he had applied for the post of a driver, stated that he came to check if his application had been granted only to be beaten by youths in the community.

“I came to check if my application was granted haven 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.”

“Similarly, Samuel Okoh, another ‘suspect’, said the owner of the building is his boss who is a mortician.

He explained that the building is proposed site for a mortuary, adding that “my boss had to relocate from were he was because the roof was leaking so he decided to relocate to his permanent site”.