INSIDE THE IBADAN RITUAL FOREST--BY PATIENCE OGBO

This may sound like a thriller movie but residents of Ibadan in Oyo State experienced a horrifying scene of kidnap and murders which has  thrown  the town into fear and shock.

The horror was the Soka forest along the Lagos- Ibadan Express Road    where mutilated, decomposing  corpses,  of scores of  kidnapped victims were  discovered on March 22^nd .

The forest has become a Mecca  as scores of people are thronging the area   to catch a glimpse  of the forest where a large number of kidnapped victims were kept in forty feet containers for more than a decade.

While  some of the kidnapped victims  did not live to tell their stories, others who were rescued were looking disheveled  and emaciated .

It happened that kidnappers were on the prowl in the State in the last ten years and their victims were kept in the forest where they were tortured and some  gruesomely murdered.

Some of the rescued victims were starved and at the verge of dying. One of them collapsed and died on the spot as rescue from the police and members of the community came their way.

 The rescued victims  narrated harrowing experiences they faced in  the hands of their abductors.

Some said they were forced to eat feaces mixed with garri. Others said they became cannibals and were feeding on dead human parts.

A more devastating  experience was the detained women who said they were forced to sleep with their fellow male victims , and after a pregnancy their babies are taken from them and pounded in a wooden pot  while they were forced to watch the goring death of their babies .

Since the discovery, scores of people had continued to visit the forest  .- most of the visitors were looking for their missing relatives .

When our correspondent visited the forest, she saw two human skulls, limps , and bones , human hair , and dry blood littered in the forest.

The police men were stationed far from the crime scene but the forest was not condor off as the visitors had free access in and out of the place thereby   altering a major crime scene that forensic investigators would have worked with to unravel the mystery behind the death of many missing persons in the country.

A source said more than fifty human skulls were evacuated from the forest and buried.

 Residents expressed anger that the Oyo state government hurriedly buried scores of dead bodies in a mass grave and they complain that forensics and a proper autopsy to identify the corpses  should  have been conducted  before such mass burial.

Narrating how the police discovered the evil forest, the Oyo state police spokesperson Bisi Nwonbi Ilobanafor, a Superintendent of police said the police were investigating a case of two missing men allegedly lured to the Soka community  but were  shocked to see an abandoned building in the forest where people were being held hostage  .

“The Oyo state police command was informed of a discovery at the Sanyo area of the state. It happened that a commercial motorcyclist took somebody close to him to the Bodija area of the state but , he stated receiving a persistent phone call on his mobile phone to the extent that the rider had to stop by the roadside to receive the call. The caller told the commercial motorcycle rider to come to Soka area to pick him up, that was how the commercial motorcyclist after dropping off the passenger at Bodija called his brother to accompany him to Soka area so they can go and pick up the man calling him . Two of them left to Soka but that was the last the family heard from them. After waiting, the family members  started looking for the two men  but when  they got to the Ogunpa river bridge at Sanyo, they saw a motorcycle under the bridge, the family members started wondering probably, the men were involved in an accident ;they reported at the police station and the police recovered the motorcycle . The family members continued to look for the missing men and much later they discovered some people in chains. They called the police, the local government chairman and some other people and by  the time the police got there they had started releasing people from the chain. Some of the people as soon as they were released took to their heels  but the police saw seven people there .Unfortunately, one of them dropped dead on the spot. The police with the assistance of the local  government chairman took the victims to the Adeoyo hospital. The victims were looking emancited, malnourished and they were just like living skeletons. We conducted a search of the area and we saw human bones, clothes, pairs of shoes, bags, in different containers”.

SP Ilobanafor added that the police arrested one Abeedeen, and following interrogations, he confessed that one Mosibau employed him to look after  the kidnapped victims.

“We also have in our custody, five other persons who are security guards in the area. We arrested them because we felt they should have heard the victims crying because the family of the missing men said when they got close to the area, they were hearing people crying “please give us water, please give us water.” We are of the opinion that if the visitors to the area can hear people crying for help, then these security guards should have heard the cry  . We search them and recover two guns, a single barrel gun and a double barrel gun, we also found on them arrow and cutlasses and they are assisting us with our investigation “.

While the police said they rescued seven persons from the evil forest, our correspondent gathered that the two men who went on a commercial motorcycle to the area are still missing.

The state governor, Abiola Ajimobi who visited the evil forest, expressed shock over the incident  and ordered a mass burial for the decomposing corpses found in the forest.

The governor also ordered that the building in the forest be demolished and the land be confiscated.

But in a swift reaction, the police high command halted the demolition exercise to pave way for forensic investigation.

The Assistant Inspector General  of police in charge of Zone 11, Femi Omolaja visited the forest and assured that the perpetrators will be brought to book.

Our correspondent  visited the Adeoyo hospital  where the rescued victims were receiving treatment  in a ward .  

The victims were looking emaciated with over grown roughen hair – they look lost and in need of proper care.

Doctors and nurses were seen administering drugs and injection. The nurses were having a hard time controlling the teeming crowd  who had besieged  the ward where the victims were kept .Most of the visitors  came from far and near to identify the victims.

A nurse was heard saying “Leave them alone. They need to rest. They have been through a lot”.

Despite the nurse’s plea, the teeming crowd will not bulge.

The victims too wanted to be seen as some of them will get up from their beds and stand by the barricaded mosquitoes net windows so they can see  the crowd.

Though they hardly spoke a word, as they are too frail to speak some however seem to love the attention they were receiving as they would stretch their hands  to nobody in particular- they will just stand and stare endlessly , walk back to their beds and in a short while walk back to the windows to look  the crowd.

Others though especially, the female victims did not leave their beds . Some of them used wrappers to cover themselves .

 According to hospital sources, fourteen victims were rescued from the forest  including five women were brought to the hospital.

The hospital sources who requested anonymity said aside the medication, the hospital is testing the victims for HIV/AIDS and other ailments.

Some of the rescue members were lucky as their family members had already recognized them and were making efforts to get them out of the hospital.

One of the victims ,Wale, Suileman Ola was  however the one who  recognized his elder sister and beckoned on her .

Wale’s family had come from Ikorodu in Lagos state as soon as they saw his name in the newspaper.

The sister was holding a photograph showing Wale with his two brothers when he was 15 years old.

Mrs. Sikinat, Wale’s mother said “Wale is my son. He went missing 14 years ago. He told us he was going to Ajale . This was in 2000. Since that day, we have not seen him. We made report to the police and we looked for him everywhere. We thought he had died. It was my daughter that read the paper and told me that Wale might be alive and we should come to Adeoyo hospital to see him. We brought a photograph of him and two of his siblings. We were just standing by the window where they were kept when he walked up to us and beckoned on his sister.  We could not believe our eyes. I almost fainted. We showed him the picture but he  was just looking at his sister  and staring at the photograph.  I thank God that my son is alive. I have been singing and dancing to God and I cannot believe that my Wale is still alive. I wept when I saw him. He was in a terrible state and will need all the love and care in the world ”

Also, the family members of one Adenike  Adeniyi one of the rescued victims  came to the hospital to recognize her.

They were calling her Bisi but she said she cannot remember any of her family members.

One of the family members who spoke with our correspondent said Nike  was kidnapped at Oke –Bola area of the state seven months ago.

“She went out to buy something that day but that was the last time we saw her. She is looking very thin and unkempt. The hospital told us that we should bring a police report so we can take her home after she was treated. The mother cannot make it to the hospital but everybody is happy that she is alive. She is not looking well. It was after we read the story and saw her picture in the newspaper that we rushed to the hospital. She is looking very thin and malnourished”.

As the reunion was going on, other visitors were however distraught that they could not find their missing loved ones.

An elderly woman who requested anonymity said “I came to the hospital to see if I can find my niece called Toyin. Toyin was working in a bank but one day in 2011, she went out and did not come back. We have been looking for her since then  . Toyin was a beautiful woman and was loved by everybody. Her mother could not bear the pains of her losing a bright child like Toyin and she had a heart attack. She has been paralyzed since then. I wish I can see Toyin among the rescued victims . I have been standing here hoping and praying to see her among the recued victims but she is not among them. I wanted to take the the good news to her bed ridden mother but Toyin is not here.

A youth corp member with his brother   one Jide came from Kwara state  to look for a lost brother.

Jide said the family  have been distraught  over the disappearance “ One of our brothers  Akin went missing last year. When we read the story on the internet, we decided to leave our base in kwara state so as to find out if he is one of the rescued victims. The hospital management is asking us to bring a police report . It was just few months to his wedding when he disappeared and nobody has heard or seen him since then. We hope and pray to God to find him here “

A house wife , Bola said she was at the Adeoyo Hospital to look for her missing sister.

“ My sister, Fadeke  went missing twelve years ago. You can see that I am shedding tears because she is not among the victims they recued. I am happy for the families who saw their missing loved  ones . I wish I can see my sister too but I have been at the hospital for two days now, she is not here .

Other residents who spoke with our correspondent however expressed joy that their kidnapped family members escaped the evil forest.

They however want the government to check the increasing cases of kidnapping in the state.

A woman who identified herself as Ruth said “My friend was kidnapped last year. She was buying fuel at a filling station in Bodija when some men forced her into her car. This happened in the afternoon about 3pm.They drove her to the Soka  forest but as soon as they entered the place, the herbalist they saw there turned them back and said she has a strong spiritual power protecting her ; That was how they drove her to the outskirt if of Ibadan, after they stole her car and dropped her to wander.  She however ran to the road side and shouted for help. God saved her she would have been killed or be one of these victims today. She had to travel out of the country for a while because she was in shock .These kidnappers have been on the prowl in the state and they were making life hell for others they kidnapped. Kidnapping has been going on  in the state but it was terrible in the last two years. If not for this Soka forest , the government would not have taken it seriously so there is need for the government to set up a special Unit to look  seriously at cases of missing persons.”

While the search for missing persons continued in the state, residents are expressing their anger over the discovery of the evil forest.

Investigation reveals that the residents are blaming lunatics for the kidnap and the existence of the evil forest.

The residents are however taking their anger out on the lunatics after they catch a suspected mad man with four tongues and other human parts.

Our correspondent who went round the Challenge, Ring Road  and Molete areas of the state  saw  residents attacking persons suspected to be lunatics .

  A mob quizzing a suspected mad woman along the Challenge Road on March 26^th almost lynched her.

A man was asking the mad woman what she was hiding in her polythene bag but the woman looked lost and could not respond. Another young man was seen pulling a used tyre over the mad woman’s head while others were calling for her to be burnt. She was however recued by the police.

A woman was heard saying “This woman and others claiming to be lunatics are fronting for the kidnappers who took people to the  Soka forest. Some of them are not mad but are just pretending to be mad. They sit in public and target people whom they later point out to their kidnap gang members. Some of this mad people are also the one killing people for rituals ”

The attack on lunatic sadly took a more dangerous turn as a suspected lunatic was allegedly  burnt to death at the Ring Road  area of the state on March 26^th. The mob said they found foreign currency, four human tongue and other human parts on the mad man and   they suspected he was a human part dealer.

Also, on March 28^th about 10.30pm, residents at the Molete area of the state attacked a suspected mad man at the police Post area in front of the Omolabanke House.

The residents used hammer and stones to inflict deep wound  on the mad man.  The mad man was bleeding profusely but they kept hitting him with the objects. The man would have been lynched but for the quick intervention of policemen from the Felele Division who came to the area with a van and rescued him.

The mob ran away and left the man in a pool of his blood but the police picked him up from the ground and took him away in their van.

The police also went away with a polythene bag which contained different Identity card belonging to the mad man.

One of the residents said the mad man was attacked after some boys found several identity cards belonging to different people in the mad man’s possession.

“I just saw that some boys in the area ran after the mad man and they snatched the polythene bag he was holding. They opened the bag and saw several identity cards in the bag. They also saw handsets at that point they pushed the mad man to the floor and started using hammer , stick and stones to hit the man on his head and all over his body; as they were hitting him, they were shouting “ritualist, human part dealer . We will kill you before you and your gang take us to Soka forest “   Other people joined them, while some were begging that they should hand the man over to the police, others were just interested in videoing and taking photographs. They would have killed the man if not for the quick intervention of a team of policemen who came to the scene and recued him. The police men put the man in their patrol van and they drove off”

The police however warned residents to desist from attacking lunatics.

SP Ilobanafor stated that the command is worried about the residents’ negative attitude towards lunatics and warned that anybody arrested would be made to face the full wrath of the law.

While the police  has began a manhunt for the perpetrators, residents living close to the forest said they noticed that some people lived in the forest but they were informed that the victims   were lunatics receiving treatment.

A resident who identified himself as Oladimeji  said “we see them bring them (victims) to out   but their guard assured us that they are working for the government to take care of mad people. We did not know that they are ritualist. We are shocked to see the corpses after the police busted the place . It was a terrible sight”

Also, the Oyo State police command denied allegation that the police was aware of the forest but did nothing to stop it.

“The police did not know that that place was existing. We are not God. The police is not omnipresent to be everywhere. We work with information. People should cooperate with the police and provide useful information. When we learnt about the forest, we stormed the place and made arrest and the people we arrested are assisting us with our investigation”

Reacting to the discovery of the evil forest and the mass burial of victims, a human rights lawyer, Leonard Igboke said the Oyo State government infringed on the fundamental human rights of the citizens by conducting a mass burial without allowing the police to carry out investigation.

“In the first place, looking at it from the point of the law, such thing was barbaric and when the government found out such a place was existing, it is just like the Okija shrine in Anambra state. It follows that the government should have carried those corpses; invite medical practitioners and forensic experts to investigate these corpses before they conducted a mass burial. The government should have allowed the police to do their work and get to the root of those behind this dastardly act and the investigation will show who and who are the victims because if family members know that their loved ones were killed there, it is important to investigate because people are the property of the state and their welfare is the responsibility of the government. Under Section 212 of the Criminal Code Act Cap C38 – the provision in that Act says, “any house, groove or place in which it has been customary to hold a trial by ordeal, which is unlawful of the vocation of any juju which is prohibited, by order may with all the article be destroyed or erased…” Maybe this was what the Oyo state government had in mind when they demolished the place but the law said the destruction must be upon a court order. Therefore, if  government or any person will destroy the place, it must be upon a court order or such destruction is unlawful”.

 Barrister Igboke added that citizens who feel that their missing family members were among those killed and buried in the forest can  sue the government for negligence.

He however said such cases  may not get a positive response as the judiciary in Nigeria lacks the independence to prosecute the government.

He said “you cannot sue the office of the governor but the problem now is in what capacity? The issue here is the independence of the judiciary. The same judiciary that will give the court order is being paid by the government. The agent you are going to use for this prosecution is the same agent that is being financed   by the government. However, they can file a suit in a civil court accusing government of negligence because if you want to go the way of prosecution, you may not achieve anything. In law, it is a breach of oath on the part of the government who has sworn an oath to protect lives and property of a state and having seen that a life was lost, did not ask questions or invite the police to carry out any autopsy then the governor has offended on the oath he sworn to protect lives and property. The state does not need a corona’s law to carry out autopsy. The constitution is supreme above any law and under the constitution, we have fundamental human rights where the dignity of persons is guaranteed by the law and the law also recognized dignity of the dead to be treated with utmost respect. All these rights are protected under the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.

Reacting to the horror experienced by the victims, Dr. Aige Okhakhume, a Rehabilitation/Disability Expert in the Department of Psychology University of Ibadan said the victims should be rehabilitated.

“The victims need to go through full rehabilitation. This will involve vocation training and going through the recycling process for them to learn new skills. The rehabilitation process should reintegrate them into the society. They also need to undergo reorientation. It is not just about giving them money but for them to learn to use their mental skill. They can go to school where they can be tutored to learn a new vocation and if they want to go to school then the government must take up the responsibility and send them to school. The government should be responsible for their full recovery and follow them up to ensure that they adjust well into the society”