The House of Representatives has called on the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to take urgent steps towards addressing the rising cases of killings of young girls for ritual purposes, News About Nigeria reports.
The steps, according to them, should be geared towards putting an end to these killings, which are gradually becoming the order of the day in the Nation.
The House therefore called on the inspector general of Police to constitute a crack team whose primary assignment will be to hunt these ritual killers and, in turn, bring an end to the menace in the country.
“The House called on the Inspector General of police to set up a crack team to conduct a holistic investigation with the sole aim of unmasking the cartels behind these killings and bring them to justice.”
The decision is following the adoption of a motion on a matter of urgent public importance moved by the lawmaker representing Adoni/Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency, Rivers State, Mr Awaji-Inombek Abiante.
Abiante, while leading the debate, kicked against the consistent killings of young girls who are mostly undergraduates by their supposed boyfriends for ritual purposes, noting that it could not be allowed to continue.
The lawmaker recalled the recent murder of 20-year-old Justina Otuene, an undergraduate in the Department of Biochemistry, University of Port Harcourt, by her supposed lover, Damian Okoligwe, who is also a student of the same university.
He also recalled the murder of Augusta Osedion, “a final year student of Lead City University in July 2023 by her boyfriend, Benjamin Best, who goes by the nickname Killaboi in Lagos; the murder of Miss Oghenefejiro Ochuko, a final year student of Ambrose Alli University, who was equally killed in August 2023 by her boyfriend; Victor Ochonogor in Benin and several other unreported cases.”
Abiante further stated that the killings usually take similar patterns, which are very disturbing because the victims’ bodies are always found dismembered with their vital organs removed.
He also noted that the perpetrators of these crimes are young boys who are probably not working alone but together with “strong cartels.”
