Badoo members are no ghosts, people are behind them, says Ambode

Lagos CP, Fatai Owoseni

The Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, yesterday said that members of the Badoo ritual killing group are not spirits and neither can they disappeared as being speculated.

 According to Ambode, intelligence reports indicates that ‘enemies within’ were responsible for kidnapping and other crimes in the state.

The Governor appealed to traditional rulers and local chiefs, who might been colluding with criminals, to be on the same page with his administration, in order to ensure safety of lives.

Ambode, vowed to stamp out Badoo from the state, said the members were not spirits or invincible. He charged traditional rulers, especially in Ikorodu, to wake up from their slumber. He urged them to nip in the bud, the rising waves of kidnapping and Badoo menace in the state.

Ambode, who spoke at the commissioning of a fire station in Epe, said he did not believe that Badoo members were spirits and could disappear as was being said.

The Governor said his government was wholeheartedly committed to safety of lives and properties in the state, even as he confirmed that no amount of expenditure was adequate to tackle crimes.

Lamenting the increasing rate of kidnapping and recent Badoo menace in spite of the state’s government efforts at policing the state, Ambode said it had come to the point that traditional rulers in the state must come together and speak to the Baales in Ikorodu, in order to check kidnapping.

He said: “We just want to pass a message; we need to come together and ensure that we speak to all our Baales in the communities that we are having issues that we must speak to ourselves.

“We have intelligence here that some of these things are coming from within and our Kabiyesis and Obas need to do something as quickly as possible to arrest this decadence. As far as the Badoo case is concerned, I don't believe that it has anything to do with a disappearing ghost. I don't also believe that the rituals can be taking place, without some people not being behind it. So, I challenge all our Kabiyesis and all our traditional rulers and Baales, we must arrest this situation as quickly as possible and show that traditional values that we have always been known for. And then we would continue to support you."