The mystery behind the reign of terror of
killer cult group known as badoo in Ikorodu area of Lagos, is gradually
unfolding following the recent arrest of five suspected key members of
the sect.
The group started its operations late
2016 with pockets of killings in different communities within Ikorodu.
By 2017, its name, badoo was not only established but the gruesome
murder of defenseless and helpless residents also established the
killing as ritual purpose related. . Its members killed at will, without consideration to the age or sex
of victims. In one of the instances, a grandmother with her two
grandchildren were murdered in cold blood in their sleep. The entire
members of several families were also wiped out by these evasive
killers.
The sanctity of worship centres like
the church were disregarded as members of the blood thirsty group killed
some victims right inside the centres. One baffling aspect of its
operation was that none of its victims nor members of the neigbourhood
where they invade was usually awake during the operation. Residents only woke up to discover the lifeless bodies of victims in
their rooms with their head smashed. At a point, residents concluded
badoo members were invincible beings. But with the latest arrest of Igwe Chibuzor (20), Obamoyegun Omotayo
(45), Samuel Ameze (38), his wife Gift, and Adebayo Fatai (34), it has
been established that members the group are human beings after all. The
arrest however, revealed the use of diabolical means in the group’s
operation.
From the confessional statements of the
arrested suspects, it was revealed that badoo members operated only at
midnight while every one would have retired to bed. Also, during
operation, they would spray a powdery substance within the targeted
building. The powdery substance which was given to them by their
herbalist was expected to put victims to deep sleep. The powdery substance was also sprayed close to buildings around the targeted building to avoid any intrusion during operation.
Thereafter, they would smash their
victim’s head with a grinding stone, and dab their white handkerchiefs
in victim’s blood before leaving the scene. But Vanguard gathered that
the only antidote to this charm is when a victim wakes up at the time
members storm the apartment, or sets his or her eyes on members. On December 30, 2017, the trio of Omotayo, Chibuzor and Ameze stormed
a building at Alajo close , Abule Osoru in Ibeshe community in Ikorodu
to carry out their usual operation. They had succeeded in smashing the
head of the breadwinner, Shakiru Yekini (38) with their arsenal- the
grinding stone. Unfortunately for them, his wife who had gone to ease herself was
just entering the room when she beheld the assailants. Her scream
alerted neighbours, particularly members of a vigilante group
established by the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command,
Imohimi Edgal.
They also used the same stone on the
woman and her 11-year-old son, Samat and dabbed their white
handkerchiefs in the victims blood before leaving the scene. However, in
their rush, one of them, Chibuzor was abandoned while others zoomed off
in their operational vehicle. He was subsequently apprehended and
handed over to the police, while the victims who were found in the pool
of their blood were rushed to the hospital. Sadly, the breadwinner was confirmed dead on arrival but his widow
and son were still being treated at the Lagos State Teaching Hospital,
Idi-Araba, following the severe bodily harm inflicted on them.
Another starling revelation about these
killers is that they usually performed rituals before, during and after
each operation. This was disclosed by Chibuzor in his confessional
statement to the Police. Determined to put an end to the reign of terror
of the sect, Chibuzor, on the directive of CP Edgal, led an advance
party of operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad , SARS, including
the Commander, CSP Muhammed Sanusi, to identify the shrine where members
were fortified spiritually. Thereafter, Edgal with a joint operatives of the Rapid Response Squad
and Lagos Task Force personnel, stormed the shrine in Imosan area of
Ijebu-Ode, Ogun state, Tuesday. The native doctor alleged to be carrying
out the spiritual work on the suspects, Adebayo Fatai (34) was
subsequently arrested and his shrine demolished on the directive of the
CP with the consent of the community leader. Some grinding stones similar to that used by members of the group
were recovered in the shrine. Crime Guard reliably gathered that members
got the grinding stones, took them to the shrine where rituals known as
ipakuare were performed on them. The ritual, as gathered, was meant to
snuff life out of victims immediately. However, any victim who was able
to sight members of the gang before they were attacked were likely to
survive it except their heads were smashed more than four times. Members also went through series of rituals to enable them escape
scenes of operation whenever alarm was raised. Before the operation,
members were advised to abstain from having sex with their spouses, as
that could erode the potency of the rituals and thereby give them away. In an interview with Chibuzor who claimed to have joined the group in
June 2017, he revealed that an oath of secrecy was also taken inside
the Imosan, Ogun state shrine. Blaming his indulgence on his desperation
to eke a living, he said :”never in my wildest imagination did I
envisage I would be involved in this. In my search for a job, I
approached Mr Omotayo. He told me to be patient that he would get one
for me. But he said that before he would give me the job as a driver, he
would first take me somewhere for an oath of loyalty. “We drove to Ogun state, where three of us: myself, himself and
Samuel were administered the oath. Thereafter, we went through another
round of rituals. Part of the ritual entailed drinking of water used to
wash dead bodies. Thereafter, the priest would say some incantations before rubbing
some oily substance from a calabash on us. We were also made to drink
concoctions prepared with animals’ blood. I was told that the rituals
were meant for protection. The water used to wash dead bodies was meant
to prevent the spirit of those killed from harming us. “The first operation I went with them after the rituals was the house
of a man we later learnt was a Pastor, on December 25, 2017. After the
operation, I was given N20,000 and the deceased’s phone. But I gave the
phone to my elder brother, Uche. Few days later, we went for another
operation where a woman saw us and raised the alarm. I was arrested not
because I violated any of the instructions given by the herbalist but
because I was left behind and I did not know the terrain.” Vandal turned badoo leader During preliminary investigation, suspected leader of the gang,
Obamoyegun Omotayo, according to Police sources was discovered to be a
former pipeline vandal. He was however forced to stop the illegal
activity when the heat by security operatives became unbearable, as well
as the resultant death of several vandals during the bombardment of
their creeks in Arepo, Ogun state and Ikorodu, Lagos by the Nigerian Air
Force, last year. His arrest and alleged involvement in the killings of several
residents within Ikorodu axis came as a rude shock to many. This is
because the 45-year-old father of two was well known in Agbowa
community, as he owns a block industry there while the street where he
lived was named after him. Saturday Vanguard was reliably informed that he usually went out
between 9pm and 10pm whenever there was an operation, to a pub where
other members converged before setting out for their target’s abode as
from midnight. At times they would meet in a hotel around Ikorodu from
where they set out. On his way back from the operation, he was usually
allowed passage within the area because of his popularity.
Information
also revealed that after the last operation, where Chibuzor was left
behind, he found his way back home owing to his mastery of the terrain,
driving past members of local vigilante whom he cheerfully greeted and
hailed for their effort at keeping the axis calm. To cover his track,
when the heat on the group was getting unbearable, Saturday Vanguard
learned that he sold his Pathfinder jeep which was allegedly used during
the operation, sometimes last year How he was arrested When he got wind of the arrest of Chibuzor, his driver, he reportedly
went into hiding on the water around Ikorodu, pretending to be a
fisherman. His wife was said to have contacted him, informing him that
the Police came looking for him. From his hiding place, he reportedly
contacted one of the community leaders to ascertain the reason for the
Police visit. The community leader (names withheld) revealed that it was
in connection with the attack on a family by badoo members . He also
advised Omotayo to show up if he was sure that he had no hand in the
attack. Policemen were said to have been deceived by the suspect’s wife who
said that her husband had gone for a burial ceremony in Ogun state when
they visited his home. But his telephone was tracked to the river, where
under cover SARS operatives on the directive of the CP , eventually
arrested him while attempting to escape. During interrogation, Police sources disclosed that he admitted to
being a member of the deadly group. He also confessed that his role
during any operation was to spray the powdery substance which puts
victims to sleep. He further stated that it was his responsibility to
dip handkerchiefs on victims blood. But he also claimed to be a mere errand boy and that the
handkerchiefs were given to some persons whose names he did not mention.
Earlier investigation revealed that the handkerchiefs were sold to some
politicians and eminent personalities within and outside Lagos State.
The blood stained handkerchiefs were thereafter used for money rituals
and protection. Each handkerchief reportedly sold for N500,000 to the
end user. Impeccable security source disclosed that some names had been
mentioned as ‘big boys ‘ behind badoo cult. Already, some of them had
left Lagos and the country in order to evade likely arrest by the
police. A resident in Ikorodu who gave his name simply as Tunde revealed that
during the naming ceremony of one of Omotayo’s children, three human
skulls were found in his apartment. But when asked how the skulls found
their way to his apartment , he told detectives that they were for his
Ifa oracle Woman also involved A woman, Mrs Gift Ameze was also one of the arrested suspected badoo
key members. She was paraded alongside her husband, Samuel Ameze alias
Samito. Samuel’s role during operation was to break victims burglary
after the powdery substance would have been sprayed. Samuel, a welder,
who also has a street named after him in Agbowa village, confessed that
he usually went for operation with his welding machine and iron cutter. On the part of his pregnant wife, she confessed to be responsible for
sourcing victims. Police sources said : “She would leave in the day
time, look for houses that were isolated and those which terrain were
difficult to access by vehicles. When she got one, she would inform the
group. But she would not join them in the operation proper. When
approached, the pregnant woman only gave this reporter a blank stare,
refusing to speak . We will get those behind this -Edgal In his determination to end the reign of badoo terror in Ikorodu, CP
Edgal said that investigation was still ongoing with a view to arresting
everyone, no matter how highly placed they were. As first step, he has
held several meetings with traditional rulers in Ikorodu, where he
sought their support at eradicating the killer cult , threatening also,
that he would not to spare any of them that would be found culpable. The effect of that meeting led to the renunciation of cultism by some
youths in Ikorodu and surrendering of arms and ammunitions in their
possession to the Police. Also, some shrines in that axis were
demolished with several arrests made during raids of the groups hideouts
by operatives led by Edgal. At the moment, a suspected badoo kingpin, Alhaji Abayomi Alaka has
been declared wanted . He however claimed in a telephone conversation
with Saturday Vanguard, Thursday, that he did not have any link with the
killer cult group and therefore had no question to answer. But the CP
insisted that he should report to the nearest police station to clear
himself and also have his day in court.
We Drink Water Used For Bathing Dead Bodies During Initiation — Badoo Members Make Shocking Confession
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January 11, 2018
Rating: 5 The mystery behind the reign of terror of killer cult group known as badoo in Ikorodu area of Lagos, is gradually unfolding following ...
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