Police in Anambra parade vigilante for alleged ritual killing

The Police in Anambra  on Saturday paraded a vigilante operative alleged to have killed an unidentified person for ritual purposes.

Parading the suspect in Awka, the state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr Garba Umar, alleged that the suspect later buried the remains of the victim in a shallow grave.

“On the night of June 22, 2017, the suspect while on duty as a security guard, on the premises of a distributor to NBL located along Oko road, Ekwulobia in Aguata Local Government Area, killed a person yet to be identified.

“The suspect buried the corpse in a shallow grave within the premises and failed to report the incident to anyone including his employer and co-workers,” he said.

According to him, on June 26, 2017, workers who perceived an offensive odour within the premises searched and uncovered an unusual sight at a portion of the premises.

Umar said workers confronted the vigilante with their findings and forced him to dig out the area after he denied knowledge of what was in the ground.

“He did and confessed to killing an intruder into the premises on the night of June 22.

“Preliminary investigation revealed the suspect beheaded the corpse, burnt it, before burying it in the shallow grave.

“The suspect is helping in the investigation as ritual killing is suspected,” Umar added.

He said items including a pump action, revolver gun, cell phones, sim cards, blood-soaked blanket and wrapper, among others were recovered from the suspect, who would be charged to court.

The police commissioner said that his administration owed the people of the state a duty of ensuring a peaceful and crime-free society; and was determined to make the state a no-go-area for criminals.

Umar said the command had put in place intelligence-led policing and crime prevention strategies to clamp down on criminals.