Following the discovery of 20 mummified bodies in a shrine close to Benin city in Edo state, police in southern Nigeria have detained three individuals.
The bodies were discovered in a structure that was suspected to be a voodoo shrine. The bodies of 15 males, three women, and two children have been found, police spokesman Chidi Nwabuzor informed reporters. How long they had been there is unclear.
He claimed that local vigilantes and armed police officers had invaded the building outside the city as a result of a tip-off.
Two of the suspects, Chimaobi Okoewu and Oko Samuel, are natives of Afikpo in the Ebonyi State, while Gideon Sunday is a third suspect. Police officers are working to capture any additional fugitive suspects connected to the crime.
The finding has startled the nation, and locals said they were appalled. How the victims could have been buried there without the nearby residents noticing any unusual activity is a common question.
Like many other states in Nigeria, Edo has struggled with security issues, particularly unsolved killings and kidnappings for ransom.
In June, kidnappers killed a Catholic priest named Christopher Odia in the city of Edo. Luigi Brena, an Italian Catholic priest, was kidnapped by assailants in Edo in July; he was eventually freed by the authorities.
An unidentified man’s body was being transported from Lagos to Enugu State for burial in 2021 when gunmen stopped a hearse at the Benin bypass in Edo and kidnapped a grieving guy.