Ritual killers are on the prowl in Ogun State. Last Sunday, they killed a commercial sex worker identified as Sitira. SAMUEL AWOYINFA X-rays the incident
It was some few minutes past 9pm last Monday. The location was the frontage of Iwe Iroyin, the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, at Oke Ilewo area of Abeokuta, Ogun State.
The two restaurants in the premises
brimmed with fun lovers who were unwinding after the day’s work. Music
blared from the speakers in one of the restaurants as cars were driven
into the premises.
Suddenly, a dirge was heard from a
distance. There was pandemonium as everyone rushed towards the main
entrance to know those singing. It was a spectacle.
Scores of young ladies, dressed in black attire, held brightly-lit candles.
They wept, sang and cursed. On a closer
look, many of the on-lookers identified the ladies as the commercial sex
workers who are regular callers to the secretariat and its environs.
The group of commercial sex workers held
the candlelight procession in honour of their colleagues murdered by an
unknown customer. The victim was identified as Sitira.
During the procession, they ventilated
their grievances on the spate of the killing of prostitutes in Abeokuta
for ritual purposes.
Sitira,
23, was said to have been murdered last Sunday by suspected ritual
killers while her remains were dumped at a refuse site. Eyewitness said
her remains were dropped from a moving Sport Utility Vehicle at Oloomore
junction, Abeokuta in the early hours of that fateful day.
A chunk of flesh was severed off her
right arm by her killers. The protesting sex workers, numbering about
50, identified their slain colleague with different names such as Titi
and Folake.
They sang, “Oro nla leda, oro nla
leda, eyin tepa Titi, t’eje odagba, oro nla leda. Omo yin maku, Omo yin
maku, eyin tepa Titi t’eje odagba, omo yin maku.”
When translated literally, it means,
‘‘You have done something grievous by killing Titi prematurely. The
killers of Titi (Sitira) have done something grievous. Their children
will die, those that killed Titi will lose their children.”
They later departed for the MKO Abiola
International Stadium, Kuto, Abeokuta, another spot where they ply their
trade to continue mourning. Speaking with journalists, some of them
claimed that aside Sitira, another colleague was killed in the same
manner and her mutilated body was discovered in a ditch at the same
Olomoore, Abeokuta.
They stated that they were not unaware of
the antics of the suspected ritual killers who are currently on the
prowl, and they would do anything to check their activities.
Our correspondent, who posed as a customer spoke to some of them at Iwe Iroyin and the MKO Abiola International Stadium, Kuto.
They expressed anger about the development, vowing to go diabolical to bring the suspects to book.
For someone like Ajike (not her real name), no amount of money would make her follow any ‘client’ to his home again.
“I have vowed that nothing would make me
follow any customer home again. That is why they have been able to kill
some of us for rituals. It’s either they follow me to where I stay or we
go to a hotel. If our dead colleagues had brought these men to the
places we operate (hotels), this wickedness would not have taken place,”
she said.
Another prostitute, who identified
herself as ‘Tee baby,’ expressed grief over the death of their
colleagues. While hitting her hands on her chest, she said she was ready
to challenge any ritual killer who crosses her path.
She said, “Any ritual killer, who
attempts to take my life will be punished. If he thinks that I am a
prostitute and has no worth, I am going to make sure he does not live to
tell his own story. I am saying it now and confirming it, that as far
as we are concerned here in Stadium, my babes (colleagues) are ready for
them. They should come with their charms. We will deal with them. I
will no longer follow anyone to anywhere other than a hotel. Now, we are
potent as a bomb.”
Abimbola, another sex worker, told our
correspondent that she saw Sitira being driven away in an exotic car the
night she was murdered.
“She was with another prostitute and they
entered one fine car that night. I was shocked to learn that Titi was
dead. In fact, I have decided to fortify myself spiritually since this
is the only job I do and I have not been able to secure any good job
aside prostitution.
“But as far as they cannot get me a job,
they cannot stop me from prostitution. The only thing they have
succeeded in doing is that they have called my attention to the fact
that I am too far from my spiritual fathers and mothers. Anyone who
knows any ritual killer should let them know that it is payback time.
They should come with their charms, we are ready for them.”
Sidikat who is also a prostitute
preferred to rain curses on the ritual killers who murdered her
colleagues. She said, “None of them will live up to old age, and they
shall use their own hands to bury their own children.”
She added, “I will however be more
cautious of the men I follow to hotels. But any of them nursing any evil
thoughts will meet their waterloo with me. I am set to do the
unthinkable with them. I know they (ritual killers) will still come
around, but they should remember that every day is for the thief, one
day will be for the owner. I will not say more than that.”
The Ogun State Commissioner of Police,
Abdulmajid Ali, on Thursday read the riot act to ritual killers, cult
members and other criminals in the state.
Ali stated, “I have told my men to shoot
any cult member or ritual killers caught in action. We will no longer
tolerate all these killings.
“So many developmental activities have
taken place in the state. So many companies are in the state and some
expatriates are here. These activities might scare them.”
Punch
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