There was in Ikorodu, Lagos, on
Wednesday, as residents of Ogoloto in
the area stormed a church (names
withheld) and razed it down following
alleged discovery of a dead baby and
four skulls in a bag found with a woman,
Rosemary Chuckwu.
She was said to have confessed that
she was sent by the pastor of the
church.
The residents gathered in groups on
the streets, while business activities
were paralysed as policemen took
control of the Ikorodu Road when the
Nigerian Tribune visited the area of the
incident.
Eyewitness accounts said the woman
was discovered by some residents, who
were said to have mobilised others to
the church following the alleged
confession by the woman that she was
sent by the pastor.
The enraged residents, who, on getting
to the church, reportedly could not find
the pastor, was said to have resorted
to setting it on fire before the police
came to dispatch them.
Policemen were still on standby as of
the time of filing this report, while the
residents had also refused to leave the
streets.
Five people suspected to have been
linked with the ‘den’ have been
arrested in connection with the
discovery.
Angry residents of the area and
hoodlums clashed with anti-riot
policemen, who were drafted to the
scene during several attempts to set
the church on fire.
The residents, mostly youths, had,
however, vandalised the church building
before policemen were drafted to the
scene to curtail further attack on the
church.
The pastor of the church was alleged to
have escaped after the news of the
arrest of the woman filtered to him.
The Nigerian Tribune gathered that it all
started around 8.00 a.m. on Wednesday
when vigilant members of the public
accosted a Chuckwu, who was carrying a
‘Ghana-Must-Go’ bag.
After a thorough search on the bag, it
was reported that one lifeless body of a
child and another child with twine on his
legs and hands, later identified as
Kelvin, were discovered in the bag.
The woman allegedly confessed to the
irate crowd that she actually kidnapped
the children for ritual purposes, but
named the pastor as the mastermind of
the act.
A resident of Majidun, who simply
identified himself as Femi, while
speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, said
“the church used to hold a special
programme every Tuesday and a large
crowd of people do attend, but most
members of the church are women.
“We found a boy that was properly tied
with twine in the Ghana-Must-Go bag
and when we began to torture her, she
confessed that she was sent by the
pastor of that church.”
He also added that “when we searched
around that church, we saw a man in
chain and we discovered some sculls of
people, that might have been killed for
ritual purposes.”
Another resident, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity, also confirmed
that a man was also rescued near the
church vicinity with chains in his hands
and legs.
The resident, however, stated that
there was uncertainty over the sanity
of the rescued man, with suggestions
that he might be insane.
The arrested woman claimed that she
was in bondage under the runaway
pastor and that the pastor insisted that
the only way she could be freed was for
her to find a replacement.
The situation became very chaotic when
policemen tried to prevent the crowd
from gaining access into the church.
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