Politician arrested for alleged ritual attempt

A leader of a political party in Lagos withheld) was arrested by the police on Friday for allegedly hypnotising three people for ritual purpose.

The victims were found in the chairman’s car after he was apprehended by commercial motorcycle operators and policemen for hitting a commercial motorcyclist.

Police sources told SATURDAY PUNCH that the suspect had driven from Lagos Island to Bariga undisturbed with his victims before he was accosted at Bariga.

He had mistakenly hit a commercial cyclist. He drove off after the incident.

“He didn’t bother to verify the condition of the cyclist nor inspect the damage to his car; he just zoomed off. This, of course, incurred the anger of other cyclists and they mobilised themselves and went after him. He was finally apprehended by policemen at Ifako,” a source said.

To the surprise of his pursuers, there were three other occupants in the vehicle, who were unconscious and appeared oblivious of their environment.

This observation roused the suspicion of everyone present and the suspect was taken to the Ifako Police Station.

The source said, “When it became obvious that the sleeping occupants were nowhere close to waking up, the Divisional Police Officer ordered that they should be taken to the Gbagada General Hospital for treatment.

“They eventually regained consciousness there and claimed they could not recall how they came to be in their present circumstance. The chairman was later released on official recognition of his status, but he is required to report daily to the station.”

Okada riders and other residents were said to have besieged the Ifako Police Station in droves to ascertain the identities of the victims as they insisted that the chairman had intended to use his victims for ritual purposes.

The unnamed ward chairman had since denied the allegation that he wanted to use the unconscious victims for ritual and claimed that they became unconscious after inhaling fumes from the vehicle’s exhaust.

He said the exhaust pipe of his vehicle was cut off and the occupants must have inhaled the fumes after he kept the cut off portion of the pipe in his car.

“He did not explain, however, his connection with the slumbering occupants found in his car,” the source added.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Command, Mr. Samuel Jinadu, could not be reached for comments as his phone was switched off.

source