By Pamela Eboh
Anambra State Police Command has rescued two persons, a man and a woman accused of killing two people in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State for ritual purposes.
The Command dismissed the matter as a case of murder and not ritual killing as speculated.
A video of the suspects who were naked with the man wearing a bloodied face, was on Wednesday circulated on social media with the suspects pushing the victims lifeless bodies in a wheel barrow in turns, while an irate mob followed suit.
According to the man who was filming the incident, he said that the suspects who he accused of killing before, had killed the victims with the intention to use them for money rituals, before they were caught by villagers.
But the state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga in a press release said that the men of the command upon getting information of the public parade of the culprits, quickly moved in and rescued them, while the deceased have been deposited in a morgue, and the living among the victims were receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital.
He said, “The Command operatives by 10 am yesterday 7/6/2023 rescued two victims and a suspect who was about to be lynched by an angry mob at the total junction, ihiala.
“To set the records straight, it is not a case of ritual killing, but a pure incident of murder. Preliminary information reveals that the two culprits a man and a woman who were humiliated and paraded as shown in the video by the angry mob were erroneously accused by the mob as they were seen at the scene where the murder took place.
“Also, both the suspect and victims are currently receiving treatment in the hospital. While the deceased has been deposited in a morgue.”
Ikenga quoted the Commissioner of Police, CP Echeng Echeng as calling for calm, while the matter had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Awka for a comprehensive investigation.
