Following an unlawful killing and setting ablaze of two suspected ritualists in Oja Odan area of Ogun State on Saturday, February 12, 2022, the Ogun State Police Command has warned the general public that such barbaric and unlawful action will no longer be tolerated.
The warning is contained in a statement issued on Sunday by the Command’s spokesman, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Abimbola Oyeyemi.
Oyeyemi explained that in the early hours of Saturday, two suspected ritualists were arrested and brought to Oja Odan Divisional Headquarters by some vigilant and law abiding members of the public, with the allegation that a fresh human head concealed in a sack was seen with them.
He said while the suspects were being interrogated in the station, some unscrupulous elements went and mobilized a large number of people who invaded the station aggressively, overwhelmed the police personnel on duty and subsequently hijacked the suspects, beat them to death and set their corpses ablaze.
“In view of the incident, the command wishes to sound a note of warning to those who are always in the habit of taking laws into their hands to desist from such uncivilized behaviour as the command will henceforth be dealing with whoever carried out such action in the most decisive manner.
“A suspect remains a suspect until he/she is convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction no matter how grievous the crime he is suspected to have committed might be. It is only the court that has the power to impose punishment on anyone found guilty of a crime, not an individual or group of people.
“Therefore, the Commissioner of Police CP Lanre Bankole has ordered a full scale investigation into the incident with the view to bring to justice those who participated in carrying out the barbaric and unlawful killing of the suspects.
“The CP therefore appealed to members of the public to have confidence in the nation’s criminal justice system and desist from self-help as such is alien to the law of the land,” the PPRO stressed.
