Operatives of the Edo State Police Command have arrested three male suspects in a ritual shrine along Asoro slope, off Ekenhua Road, Uzebu quarters in Benin.
Jennifer Iwegbu, Deputy Police Public Relations Officer (DPPRO) in the state disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.
According to the DPPRO, the operatives, who acted on a tip-off from members of the public, also recovered 20 corpses from the shrine during the operation.
She explained that two of the suspects – Chimaobi Okoewu and Oko Samuel hail from Afikpo in Ebonyi State. She gave the name of the third suspect as Gideon Sunday.
The DPPRO said the operatives are making efforts to apprehend other fleeing suspects in connection with the crime.
According to the deputy police spokesperson, the 20 recovered corpses include 15 males, three females and two children.
Thr statement read: “Following credible information that some corpses were discovered in a building along Asoro slope off Ekenhua Road, Uzebu quarters, Benin city, Operatives of the command immediately mobilised to the scene.
“At the scene, three suspects, Chimaobi Okoewu ‘M’ and Oko Samuel ‘M’ both of Afikpo in Ebonyi and Gideon Sunday ‘M’ of Akwa-Ibom State were arrested while others fled. An intensive effort is ongoing to arrest the other fleeing suspects.
“15 mummified male corpses, 3 mummified female corpses and 2 mummified children corpses were discovered at the scene.”
Meanwhile, the Edo State Commissioner of Police, Abutu Yaro has directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) to carry out a thorough investigation to unravel the circumstances surrounding the recovered bodies.
The CP urged the general public to be calm; assuring that the Command will continue to ensure the safety of all law-abiding citizens in the state.