RITUALIST'S DEN UNCOVERED IN LAGOS PENTECOSTAL CHURCH

… Human parts found, 6-yr-old child rescued 

There was pandemonium yesterday at the Majidun area of Ikorodu in Lagos State as a ritual­ists’ den was uncovered in a Pentecostal church in the area.

Angry residents, who be­sieged the church, attempted to set the building ablaze but for the quick intervention of policemen from the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Area N Command in Ijede.

Trouble started for the church when a female mem­ber, identified as Rosemary, was seen with a travelling bag containing a little boy identified as Kelvin.

An eyewitness, John Alum, said on close exami­nation, the boy turned out to be the six-year-old son of the suspect’s neighbour.

The discovery sparked off heavy protest and the angry crowd that gathered forced the woman to take them to her destination.

Alum said: “We were shocked that the woman who committed the dastardly act was a member of the pen­tecostal church. A man was also rescued from the church. The man was in chains and he told us that he was ab­ducted and kept in captivity for over a decade. We also found a pit inside the church where many skulls and hu­man bones were seen.”

He said the woman would have been lynched, but the mob wanted her to be used as witness by the police against the pastor of the church, who took to his heels.

Another eyewitness, Bose Oladende, stated that she saw the boy playing at about 7.30 am and later saw the woman taking him inside the church but did not suspect foul play as she believed the place to be God’s house.

“But I became suspicious when the woman came out, holding a bag without the little boy. Beside, the church members don’t worship on Wednesdays but Tuesdays. I now raised the alarm and we were shocked with what we saw. I saw the little boy that was playing few minutes ago inside the bag.

“I used to see the church as a firebrand church not know­ing that it is a ritualists’ den. I thank God that I have not gone to worship there,” she said.

A police officer, who spoke on condition of ano­nymity, told Daily Sun that policemen had to rush to the scene to save lives and the houses near the church from being burnt.

As at press time, hundreds of angry residents, armed with dangerous weapons, in­cluding machetes, bottles and fuel, were seen calling for the head of the woman and beg­ging the police to allow them set the church ablaze.

Lagos State Police spokes­person, Ngozi Braide, who confirmed the incident, said: “At about 7.30 am, the Di­visional Police Officer in charge of Ikpakodo received a distress call that a woman was accosted with a bag con­taining a six-year-old boy and was about being lynched. He and his men raced to the scene and rescued the woman identified as Rosemary (sur­name withheld by us).”

According to Braide, the suspect had allegedly con­fessed that she was sent by the pastor of the church locat­ed at Lagos Road, Majidun.

She said the police stormed the church and ar­rested five persons, including the suspect, Madu, Boniface and Ifeanyi, adding that the owner of the church was on the run