Jibola Awoseyi, national president of the Society of Security Practitioners of Nigeria (SSPN), on Monday added his voice to denials by the Nigeria Police of being the source of circulating emails listing so-called notorious hot spots for ritual killings in the country. “I have not received any such mails,” he said.
The Nigeria Police Force had, late last week, dismissed rumours that certain parts of Nigeria are more dangerous than others. This is in reaction to a memo, circulated via the internet, alleging that certain locations in Nigeria, including Lagos and Kaduna, have become hot spots for ritual killings.
The police national spokesman, Emmanuel Ojukwu, said the alarmist mail, which was said to have come from the police, is “false and baseless”, adding that the message, originating from a faceless author, does not mean well for the public and the inhabitants of the affected areas.
“The (Police) Force strongly states here that it never at any time originated, published and circulated such infamous and alarmist information. The Nigeria Police Force neither knows nor has anything to do with the faceless author of the said message and therefore, vehemently dissociates itself from the message and its author,” Mr. Ojukwu said.
False alarm
The email, which has been received by thousands of Nigerians, claims that some of the states that are notorious for ritual killings include Abia, Anambra, Kaduna, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Ogun and Rivers states.
The mail advised motorists to be wary of the ritualists’ new tactics and mentioned some police emergency numbers in Lagos, to which it asked victims to send text messages.
“Make sure you drive at the middle of express road at all times,” it read. “If anyone tells you that your car is sparking or there is fire or smoke coming out from your car bonnet, please do not listen just drive on. That is their new tactics.”
One of the locations mentioned as a ritual killing hot spot was the Toyota Bus Stop along the Apapa/Oshodi Expressway in Lagos, where the ‘faceless’ author claimed to have been saved by God one evening while driving home. Many Lagosians still recall the case of Clifford Orji, a man arrested many years ago for cannibalism, from his base at that bus stop.
What to do
When NEXT contacted Adam Mojeed, vice-chairman of the Isolo Local Council, overseeing the Toyota Bus Stop area, to comment on and what security measures his council has in place during the festive season, he refused to comment.
“I can’t say anything on this issue,” he responded. “Contact the chairman instead. She is the Chief Security Officer of the area and is in a better position to answer you. I don’t have her number. The same way you got my number, get her own.”
But the number for the chairperson, Mrs. Oseghale, as obtained from the Lagos State official website was incomplete, short of one digit.
Meanwhile, the national spokesman of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Emma Okeh, has said he is not aware of such a mail, adding that he has also not received any report on locations notorious for ritual killings in any part of the country.
“I am hearing this for the first time and I am not aware of such hotspots. But in terms of security, the civil defence has deployed its personnel to every part of the country to ensure there is peace. And trouble-makers who fall foul will be dealt with according to the law.”
Mr. Awoseyi also informed NEXT that the nation’s security community has concluded plans to supplement police efforts in the coming festive months. “That is why SSPN has a programme called ‘Let’s start watch the watchers’,” he said. “Which is aimed at managing such situations.”