- Sputnik International, 1920
Africa
Get the latest Africa news from Sputnik: breaking news, photos, videos, analysis, and features.

Nigerian Police Probe Launched Following Discovery of 20 ‘Mummified Corpses’ in Benin City

© AFP 2023 / PIUS UTOMI EKPEINigerian police. File photo
Nigerian police. File photo  - Sputnik International, 1920, 20.08.2022
Subscribe
Authorities of Nigeria’s Edo state gave local police seven days to conclude an investigation into the discovery of a “suspected ritual shrine” in the area.
Three suspects have been detained during the raid in southern Nigeria after police found 20 mummified bodies at a building in Benin City, the capital of the West African nation’s Edo state.
Police spokeswoman Jennifer Iwegbu told reporters that armed police officers raided the building, acting on intelligence that it was a “suspected ritual shrine” run by cultists.

“Fifteen mummified male corpses, three mummified female corpses and two mummified child corpses were discovered at the scene' just three miles (5 kilometers) from the city center”, Iwegbu said.

She added that all three detainees were young males and that a police medical team was part of the investigations. According to her, “an intensive effort is ongoing to arrest the other fleeing suspects.”
In this photo taken Sunday, May 28, 2017, members of the Biafran separatist movement gathered during an event in Umuahia, Nigeria. - Sputnik International, 1920, 05.04.2021
World
Suspected Members of Separatist Group Attack Prison in Southeast Nigeria, Police Announce
Iwegbu also said that it was not immediately clear how long the bodies had been in the building, with interrogations of the suspects under way.

The News Agency of Nigeria has, meanwhile, cited the Edo Police Command as saying in a statement that “there are a lot of speculations going around that the place [the Benin City building] is a quack morgue where they preserve bodies.”

“We are going to leave the situation for the police to do their investigations and brief the public on what was going on there. The governor has given 7 days for them to come back with details of what they found; if it was just a morgue, any ritual involved or what is the situation”, the statement pointed out.
Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала