Police uncover ‘shrine’ with 20 corpses, suspects kick

Police uncover ‘shrine’ with 20 corpses, suspects kick

The Edo State Police Command has arrested four suspects in connection with 20 mummified bodies discovered in a house in Asoro Slope, Ekenhua Road, Uzebu Quarters, Benin.

The police, after discovering a shrine in the building, designated it a ritual site.

When our correspondent visited the scene on Thursday, officers from the legal department of the command, in company with the police spokesman, SP Chidi Nwabuzor, were seen in the building.

The team, however, declined comment on the matter.

A refrigerator, the mummified bodies with mortuary tags, an area that looked like a shrine, a bedroom and a stretcher were found in the uncompleted building.

The area, which was condoned off, was heavily guarded by men of the Edo State Security Network, while residents thronged the scene to catch a glimpse of the building.

One of the suspects, Chimobi Okoewu, who said he was supervising POP work in the building, said it was a proposed mortuary.

He said, “I was supervising the 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 personal building. He was in a rented apartment before now.”

However, another suspect, Gideon Friday, who claimed to have applied for the job of a driver, said he came to check if his application was successful.

He said, “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 had been granted but the community people didn’t listen and kept beating me. They later took me to a police station.”

The third suspect, Samuel Okoh, said the owner of the building was his boss.

“My boss had to relocate from where he was because the roof was linking, so he decided to relocate to his permanent site,” he added.

Earlier, the state Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Jennifer Iwegbu, in a statement, said the suspected shrine was discovered on Wednesday.

“At the scene, three suspects, Chimaobi Okoewu and Oko Samuel, both of Afikpo, Ebonyi State, and Gideon Sunday, of Akwa-Ibom State, were arrested, while others fled. An intensive effort is ongoing to arrest the fleeing suspects, while another was arrested on Thursday.

“Fifteen male corpses, three female corpses and female children corpses were discovered at the scene,” the statement added.