Angry mob storm police cell, sets detainees on fire

Juliana Francis

Two men, Idowu Afolabi and Johnson Adebiyi, have been burnt alive by an angry mob under the suspicion that the men were ritual killers.

The incident, which occurred on February 2, at 9:45am, at Igbo Ogbe Oja Odan, Ogun State, left people gasping in shock.

According to a Police Situation Report sighted by our reporter, the mob stormed the Oja Odan Police Division, overpowered policemen on duty, unlocked the cell and dragged out the two detainees and then set them on fire.

According to further reports, the suspects were first dragged to the station by the mob, along with their motorcycle.

In the midst of the confusion and shouting, the policemen were able to understand that the men were being accused of ritual killing. The policemen, while trying to calm the motley crowd, asked for exhibits to support the mob’s allegations.

This apparently enraged the mob, who quickly surrounded the police station.

The Sit-Rep states: “While trying to pacify the violent crowd, which had already surrounded the station, to enable me interrogate the suspects, the crowd became more aggressive. I called on the Kabiyesis of Oja Odan, the youth leader and local vigilante and other stateholders in the community. The area commander deployed army and police personnel from other divisions to the station for assistance, all to no avail. The crowd forcibly broke into the station’s cell, brought out the two suspects and set them ablaze. Later, the youth brought a sack, which contained a fresh human head from where the suspects had hidden it. No arrest had been made yet.”