Matilda Omonaiye/
Retired Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) and a former Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Israel Ajao has unmasked the serial killer-gang that has kept on wiping out families in Ikorodu area of Lagos.
According to him intelligence reports have shown that the gang known as Badoo might have been killing for rituals and fetish purposes.
Ajao, who is now the Chairman Lagos State Neighborhood Corps made the revelation today during an interactive session with crime correspondents in Lagos.
He said, “It has become a disturbing trend and their modus operandi is worrisome. There is more to it than meets the eyes. They come into a house with no weapon except with a stone or mortar which they use to smash their victims’ head. They are not spirits, but they come at the dead of the night – 2am, and they use the grinding stone and mortar to smash the heads of an entire family. After they are done, they clean the blood with white clothes and they escape. This is bizarre and it is fetish and a ritual. We believe there are receivers who benefit from this; people who are evil, but we will not sit back and allow them to continue in this killing. We are going deeper into this crime and we will nip it in the bud. But we need the cooperation of members of the community.”
In a bid to strengthen public confidence in the security agencies, Ajao said that the Corp would carry out a sensitization workshop around the local government areas in the state.
He added that the Lagos state Neighborhood Corp was established to complement the police and urged members of the public to provide useful information to the Corp.
He added, “Officers of the Corp are sons and daughters of the community. It is not about state of origin, but the person must be resident in Lagos and registered with the state. We have people from all the geographical locations of the country. We have been mandated to do grassroots policing also known as community policing. We are not substitute for the Nigeria Police, but we complement the police. This is necessary seeing the level of crime in the society. No matter how brilliant the security agencies are, without the cooperation of the members of the public, the police cannot perform. We therefore urge members of the public to use the toll free lines and send us anonymous messages if they see something, they should say something.”
Residents claimed that the Badoo cult had killed more than 26 persons in the last one year.
In its last reported outing on June 28, the cult killed a couple and their son at Odogunyan area of Ikorodu, and left two other children battling for life at a hospital.
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