Panic grips Ikeja residents as ritualists dump corpses on streets

Fear has gripped residents of highbrow Adeniyi Jones and adjoining Adekunle village estates in Ikeja, Lagos state capital following strange discovery of decapitated remains of two teenage girls on the streets within 72 hours.

The first corpse was discovered neatly packaged inside a travelling bag on the street at Jafac close in Adekunle village, very close to a hotel while the second was discovered 72 hours later, wrapped in a nylon bag on the street in Aba Johnson Crescent, Akora Estate, still very close to another hotel. These estates are just two poles apart.

Crime Guard gathered that efforts by detectives from Mancenter Police division to unravel the mystery surrounding the incidents have not been successful. Police sources said investigations carried out with a view to ascertaining if the hotels and some of the residential buildings installed CCTV which would have aided police investigation did not yield positive results.

It was discovered that the area of coverage of the CCTV installed in one of the buildings at Jafac close, Adekunle village did not extend to where the corpse was dumped.

However, the CCTV in the nearby hotel was said to have packed up during the rainy season.

It was learnt that detectives later interrogated some staff of the hotel and residents over the incidents but it was not known whether they invited the private guards on duty at the main gate leading to the estate for questioning.

Lamenting, one of the residents at Adekunle village where the first discovery was made said “it is unfortunate also that the police are yet to question the private guards strategically manning the area. They should be in a position to explain this riddle soon if not, we are in trouble.

The police have not done enough to unravel the mystery surrounding the strange discoveries of dead bodies in the area. We are all living in fear now. Nobody knows whether the killers and victims are from here or outside.”

While detectives were battling with the incident at Adekunle village, another shocking discovery of the remains of a fair-complexioned girl was discovered, dumped on the street at Aba Johnson Crescent, Adeniyi Jones in the same area. The latest shocking discovery caused apprehension not only in the highbrow Adeniyi Jones area but in Ikeja the state capital.

Security has therefore been beefed up in all the affected and adjoining estates in the area while residents and visitors are subjected to thorough searches before being allowed access into the vast estates.

An official of Lagos State Ministry of Health who was involved in evacuating the bodies told Crime Guard under strict anonymity that the bodies were cut into parts and neatly packed into the bags before being dumped on the streets.

According to the middle-aged health official, “I have never seen such decapitation of human body since I started this job. In the first incident at Jafac close, they just removed some of the vital parts, cut other parts into pieces and neatly arranged them inside the travelling bag and in the case of the incident at Aba Johnson, her body parts were removed leaving only her head with a freshly made hair style, body and legs”.

An elderly estate agent who has lived in the estate for long, Alhaji Adebola told Crime Guard that what residents of the area were experiencing was a re-enactment of an ugly incident that happened at the same place 20 years ago.

He said, “many people may have forgotten that it was in the same estate that one female teenager, Adeline Eze had her eyes plucked out by another teenage apprentice in Ikeja under bridge for rituals.

“Adeline was lured into Adeniyi Jones primary school in the estate by the apprentice, seduced with a bottle of coke laced with sleeping tablets after which her eyes were plucked out in the most gruesome manner and taken to one Alhaji in far away Kano state.

A similar thing has started there again. Every effort must be put in place to arrest perpetrators of these heinous crimes hibernating amongst us in the estate.”

Meanwhile, it was gathered that the police have commenced regular raids in all known relaxation spots and guest houses inside the estates.

On their part, managers of the estates have embarked on security measures aimed at ensuring the return of sanity in the area.

The measures include; the closure of all business and commercial activities in the estate by 7 pm, confirmation of all visitors by their hosts before access is granted and review of security architecture amongst others.

(Adopted from Saturday Vanguard)