The suspected high priest of the deadly ritualists’ sect, Badoo, has been arrested.
Fatai Adebayo, the 34-year-old suspect, believed to have protected members of the gang, was arrested in his shrine on 38, Ayegbami Quarters in Imosan, Odogbolu Local Government Area, Ogun State.
His arrest was sequel to the confession of some arrested gang members, who identified the shrine to the Lagos Police Command as their spiritual base, where they patronise for oath taking and diabolic backing before they embarking on gruesome operations.
Adebayo operated in a wooden kiosk situated in his family compound where he lives with his wife and mother.
The kiosks was littered with fetish accessories, including figurines, rocks, bottles of mixture, cowry-embedded apron, pictures of white men and women, black pots, goats, chickens among others.
Leading a team of security operatives comprising operatives of Federal Special Anti-Robery Squad (FSARS) Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Lagos Vigilance group and the Lagos Task Force, the Commissioner of Police in Lagos, Imohimi Edgal, said the discovery was part of the success recorded against criminal groups in the state.
He said the suspected spearhead of the ritualist sect was also arrested over the weekend during a gun duel to stop his escape.
He said: “Over the weekend, we had far-reaching achievements in the fight against these killers in Ikorodu, otherwise called Badoo. Their kingpin has been arrested as he tried to escape on water.
“One of the suspects confessed that before they go for any killing, the head of the group brings to them a man to perform out taking and the piece of stone they use in killing their victims. He is an accomplice and we are definitely placing him on arrest.”
The police chief supervised the demolition of the shrine after intimating the community leader in Imosan village, Chief Tajudeen Muyili, who said: “For me, I don’t support nonsense. So, I give you the permission to carry on.”
But Adebayo’s wailing mother, Toyin Ogunyemi dismissed the allegations of aiding and abetting ritual killings, saying her son only performs healing rites for those in need. She described her son as a renowned herbalist without blemish.
According to her, the rocks found around the shrine were for mashing solutions.
“My son does not perform evil medicines. People only come to him for healing solutions. He doesn’t do money ritual except prayers for success. Before God and Man, he is not robber or a killer,” she said.
