Thursday, January 10, 2008

SSS arrests suspected ritualists in Akure
From Julius Alabi, Akure

THREE suspected ritualists and their godfather who specialised in using human beings for their illegal act have been arrested by officials of Ondo Command of the State Security Services (SSS).

advertisement

The suspects, Femi Alo, Kayode Ajayi and Ojo Gegeleso and their godfather, Sunday Olusola (a.k.a. Ekun), were said to have been apprehended in their hideout at Akure metropolis as they were trying to use one of their victims for ritual.

Parading the suspects yesterday in Akure, the Director of SSS, Mr. Boma Spero-Jack, said many innocent people in the state had fallen victims to the deadly gang while those who could not be used for ritual were compelled to bring specific amount of money to free themselves.

According to him, during the raid of the suspects' camp known as "Evil Camp" at Araromi, a Honda Accord car with registration number: Ondo AW 137 AKR and a Sports Utility Van with registration number: Lagos FC 239 EKY, belonging to their godfather, were recovered from them.

"We went to action as cases of kidnapping have become a daily occurrence in Ondo State and we have been given information on how we could get them and when we got to their abode. A new victim, Ganiyat Animasan, was about to be led to their shrine at Araromi", he noted.

Spero-Jack, who took reporters to the shrine at Araromi, said a married woman simply known as Funmilayo who was about boarding a vehicle from Akure to Abuja before she was kidnapped, was swindled and duped to the tune of N250,000 and was also raped.

He however said the woman miraculously escaped from the gang before she could be used for ritual.

The SSS chief, however, appealed to the people of the state to board vehicles at the park since the kidnappers operated more on highways.

Narrating her ordeal, Ganiyat Animasan, a student of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, said she boarded the kidnappers' vehicle along Owo/Akure Expressway on her way to school.

She added that suddenly, an argument ensued between two of the "passengers" she met in the vehicle and a few minutes later, she lost consciousness and found herself in a dreadful shrine.

"I was about removing my underwear when men of the SSS came to rescue me from the hand of the kidnappers. If not, I would have been dead by now", she said.

Three of suspects, Gegeleso, Alo and Ajayi, while speaking with The Guardian confessed to the crime, saying that they were errand boys who brought innocent people to the shrine for a fee.

"We don't know what happens to the people there after we might have taken them to the shrine. The remaining job is left to our godfather because he is the head of the shrine", they said.