By Seyi Odewale
The Edo State Police Command has arrested one more suspect, bringing to four the number of suspects in police net in connection with 20 mummified bodies discovered in a house in Asoro Slope, Ekenhua Road, Uzebu Quarters in Benin.
At the site, a refrigerator, mummified bodies with mortuary tags, an area that looked like a shrine, a bedroom and a stretcher were found in the uncompleted building.
One of the suspects, Chimobi Okoewu, who said he was supervising a POP work in the building, said the corpses were transferred to the new place, which is a proposed permanent site for a mortuary.
He said: “I was supervising a POP work in the building. The corpses they found there were the ones they transferred from the place they were kept before to this new place.
“The owner of the place is a mortician. He was told by his landlord to pack out of his former place. So, he decided to relocate the corpses to his permanent site which is his own personal building. He was in a rented apartment before now.
However, Gideon Friday, who said he had applied for the post of a driver, stated that he came to check if his application had been granted only to be beaten by youths in the community.
He stated: “I came to check if my application was granted and have applied for a driving job here. So, when I got to this place to ask for the director, some community people came and started beating me up.
“I told those that were beating me that I only came to check if my application has been granted but the community people didn’t listen and kept beating me. They later took me to the police station.
Also, Samuel Okoh said the owner of the building is his boss who is a mortician. He said his boss owns the building, which is the proposed site for a mortuary, adding,”my boss had to relocate from where he was because the roof was linking so he decided to relocate to his permanent site.
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The Edo State Police Command Deputy Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Jennifer Iwegbu, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), in a statement yesterday, said the bodies were discovered in a building along Asoro slope, off Ekenhua road in Uzebu quarters, Benin.
“In pursuance of its operational mandate of nipping crimes in the bud, Operatives of the Edo State Police Command unravelled a suspected ritual shrine.
“Following credible information at the Command’s disposal that some corpses were discovered in a building along Asoro slope off Ekenhua road, Uzebu quarters, Benin city, operatives of the command immediately swung into action and mobilised to the scene.
Items recovered at the scene, according to her, are 15 mummified male corpses, three mummified female corpses and two mummified children’s corpses.
She said: “To this end, the state Commissioner of Police, Abutu Yaro, has directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of state CID to carry out a discreet investigation to unravel the circumstances surrounding the discovered corpses.”
