If residents of Omotedo, Oke-Afa area of Magboro in Ogun State had any inkling of the frightening activities going on in their area, they could not have imagined the extent of what was found in a shrine discovered by the police in the state on Sunday, March 15, 2015
In a commando-style operation, policemen from the Ibafo Division reinforced by more operatives from the Zone 2 Police Command, Onikan, Lagos, stormed the shrine.
Located about five minutes off the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, our correspondent visited the shrine and saw first-hand what could best be described as a dark grove which, no faint-hearted human being would dare enter.
The items recovered in the shrine include a framed photograph of a South-West governor.
A barely motorable road leads to the shrine from a newly constructed housing estate, which lies in contrast to the horror that lay beyond.
Jimoh at the entrance of one of the shrines
The building, which is shaded a little by some trees, has no door opening outwards. In fact, the entrance is fenced off to conceal whatever was going on inside.
There are six rooms inside the building, which was constructed with concrete blocks. But entering the room gives one immediate understanding that it was never built to be a residential building. Each of the six rooms in the building is fashioned into groves with figurines in each of them. Some of the figurines are so imposing that they tower above a human being. There are more shrines and altars outside the building but within the compound.
In the passage of the house, is an altar, which has been smeared with blood. Dry blood of different shades is noticeably splashed on the wall beside the altar. Surrounding the altar also are many bottles of Schnapps alcoholic drinks.
Divisional Police Officer of Ibafo, Mr. Salau Jimoh, a chief superintendent of police, who led the team of police operatives to the shrine explained that, by the time his men got to the scene, it had been abandoned by the users.
The police suspect that the shrine might have been used by kidnappers and fraudsters.
“By the look of things, the suspects must have been using the shrine for a long time,” Jimoh said.
Chief Muftau Aremu-Sani
The Baale (community head) of Omotedo, Chief Muftau Aremu-Sani, told Saturday PUNCH that he got a report from people who saw the strange activities going on in the vicinity of the compound and decided to alert the police.
He said, “I was shocked that something like this could be going on in my domain. I was told by people who see those who go in and out of the place that they might be either kidnappers or fraudsters and thought that only the police could handle the matter.
“People moving around the place could not have been easily noticed over the years since the place is a developing site visited often.”
Written on the wall of the shrine is a phone number, which investigation revealed was registered in the name, ‘Chairman Lemu.’ However, the case took a different twist when our correspondent dialed the phone number and a man, who answered the phone identified himself as Adewale Adetujoye.
He told our correspondent over the phone, “The place was never used by kidnappers or fraudsters. It was used as a shrine by a herbalist who used the place to practise his trade.
“I was the herbalist’s secretary. In fact this phone number belongs to him, I only retained it to receive calls from his customers because he has been taken abroad by his children after he took ill.
“I suspect the lie about the place being a kidnappers’ den was being circulated by the Baale of the area who wants to snatch the land from the herbalist.”
Adetujoye explained that the photograph of the South-West governor got there by mistake.
“Baba (the herbalist) wanted to put up a framed photograph of another governor but was bought the wrong governor’s photograph,” he said.
The Police Public Relations Officer in Ogun State, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi, told Saturday PUNCH that from all indications, the shrine might have been used for rituals and by fraudsters who use the spiritual gimmicks to defraud victims in the past.
“Right now, we are working with relevant authorities to see to the possible demolition of the building,” Adejobi said.
