There was in Ikorodu, Lagos, on Wednesday, as residents of Ogoloto in the area stormed a church (names withheld) and razed it down following alleged discovery of a dead baby and four skulls in a bag found with a woman, Rosemary Chuckwu.
She was said to have confessed that she was sent by the pastor of the church.
The residents gathered in groups on the streets, while business activities were paralysed as policemen took control of the Ikorodu Road when the Nigerian Tribune visited the area of the incident.
Eyewitness accounts said the woman was discovered by some residents, who were said to have mobilised others to the church following the alleged confession by the woman that she was sent by the pastor.
The enraged residents, who, on getting to the church, reportedly could not find the pastor, was said to have resorted to setting it on fire before the police came to dispatch them.
Policemen were still on standby as of the time of filing this report, while the residents had also refused to leave the streets.
Five people suspected to have been linked with the ‘den’ have been arrested in connection with the discovery.
Angry residents of the area and hoodlums clashed with anti-riot policemen, who were drafted to the scene during several attempts to set the church on fire.
The residents, mostly youths, had, however, vandalised the church building before policemen were drafted to the scene to curtail further attack on the church.
The pastor of the church was alleged to have escaped after the news of the arrest of the woman filtered to him.
The Nigerian Tribune gathered that it all started around 8.00 a.m. on Wednesday when vigilant members of the public accosted a Chuckwu, who was carrying a ‘Ghana-Must-Go’ bag.
After a thorough search on the bag, it was reported that one lifeless body of a child and another child with twine on his legs and hands, later identified as Kelvin, were discovered in the bag.
The woman allegedly confessed to the irate crowd that she actually kidnapped the children for ritual purposes, but named the pastor as the mastermind of the act.
A resident of Majidun, who simply identified himself as Femi, while speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, said “the church used to hold a special programme every Tuesday and a large crowd of people do attend, but most members of the church are women.
“We found a boy that was properly tied with twine in the Ghana-Must-Go bag and when we began to torture her, she confessed that she was sent by the pastor of that church.”
He also added that “when we searched around that church, we saw a man in chain and we discovered some sculls of people, that might have been killed for ritual purposes.”
Another resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, also confirmed that a man was also rescued near the church vicinity with chains in his hands and legs.
The resident, however, stated that there was uncertainty over the sanity of the rescued man, with suggestions that he might be insane.
The arrested woman claimed that she was in bondage under the runaway pastor and that the pastor insisted that the only way she could be freed was for her to find a replacement.
The situation became very chaotic when policemen tried to prevent the crowd from gaining access into the church.
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