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The police in Ogun State have smashed a syndicate operating a fake shrine used for defrauding unsuspecting Nigerians.
The police on Tuesday in an operation led by Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ikemefuna Okoye, stormed the shrine located in a thick forest in Iganke, a border town between Lagos and Ogun states along the old Lagos-Ikorodu-Ijebu Ode Road.
Our correspondent, who was at the scene, observed that the fake shrine was filled with charms and other fetish materials.
The police had earlier arrested two suspects who attempted to obtain the sum of N500, 000 from a businessman in Abeokuta.
The suspects, according to the police, had gone to a popular hotel in the state capital to collect the money from the victim who had earlier informed the police after making an initial payment of N35,000.
When the police stormed the shrine, the remaining suspects escaped into the forest.
At the shrine, the police also discovered two underground tunnels leading to two different sections of the shrine where the victims were compelled by the scary sight of deities to part with their money.
The police commissioner told journalists that his men would continue to be on the lookout for such shrines, adding that the earlier arrest of the two members of the syndicate led to the discovery of the shrine.
Okoye said, “One of them tried to dupe someone of huge amount of money but through intelligence gathering, we heard about it. We immediately swung into action and we are able to arrest two of the suspects who brought us to this place (the shrine) where they do all sorts of things such as rituals and fraud.
“Our investigation department is working tirelessly to get to know more about the activities of these people and take necessary action.“
He stated that the police in Ogun would collaborate with their counterparts in Lagos to further investigate the crime.
The commissioner added that the arrested suspects would be charged to court after investigations had been concluded.
He thanked members of the various communities for their cooperation, stressing that anyone with useful information should volunteer such to the police.
Ikemefuna however warned members of the public to be wary of those they relate and have business dealings with.
He said, “People have to be very careful with people that come around them, especially people working for you. People who come close to you as friends may use that opportunity of friendship to dupe you. You have to be careful with people who ask you to bring certain things in order to become rich.
“We are still investigating and at the end of it all, we’ll know what to do because it’s an illegal place and illegal dealings are going on there and we won’t condone illegality. Therefore at the end of investigations we’ll have to pull it down. After investigation, we’ll charge the suspects to court.
“This place is within the jurisdiction of Lagos. This is Ogun and that is Lagos. So, it means we are now going to work together with the commissioner of police, Lagos State Command to achieve a good result and to ensure that this type of thing is brought to an end.”
Culled from Punch Metro Nigeria.
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Simply Cheska...
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