Civil Defence nab ritualists syndicate in Niger

The full wrath of the law has caught up with some syndicates who are involved in manhood mutilation, gang raping of minors, assault and other criminal activities in Pandogari area of Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State.

Already, they are cooling their feet at the detention facility of the Niger State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, State headquarters in Minna.

They were arrested by plain clothes operatives of the NSCDC attached to the Rafi Divisional Command headquarters of the corps through a verifiable intelligence gathering mechanism put in place by the Divisional Command.

Addressing journalists at a news briefing held at the Command headquarters along David Mark Road in Minna, the Niger State capital Tuesday, the Commandant of the Corps, Mr Joachim Okafor explained that as part of the mandate of the corps in ensuring the protection of critical national assets and infrastructure, safe school initiatives, as well as the protection of lives and properties, the Command effected the arrest of the syndicate.

The Commandant who was represented at the briefing by the Deputy Commandant of the Corps in the state, DCC Abdulhameed Kabara disclosed that a thirteen year old Junior Secondary School JSS 1 girl (name withheld), of Day Secondary School in Pandogari was gang raped by the syndicates after drugging her with a substance.

The other syndicate members were identified as Aliyu Amiru 20 years of age, Suleiman Abubakar Gambo 19 years old, Yusuf Mallam Murtala 22 years old all according to the Deputy Commandant were residents of Pandogari area of Rafi Local government Area of Niger State.

According to the Deputy Commandant of the NSCDC, on Thursday the 2nd of May 2024, the Principal of the School, informed the Operatives of the Corps, about the ugly activities of the syndicates ” and a strategy was perfected,by using the victim as bait it worked out perfectly as one of the syndicate was threatening the girl’s life was arrested.

“The arrested syndicate was identified as Aliyu Amiru a twenty years old, in the course of our Investigation another person involved in the heinous crime was also arrested.

He continued: ” The thirteen years old girl further revealed that Aliyu Amiru and his syndicate members abducted her some time in 2022, blindfolded and took her to an uncompleted building at the outskirts of the town.

“Where they took turns to gang raped her while she was still in captivity, a little boy of less than two years old was brought in her presence his manhood was chopped off”.

“She was asked to cooperate, otherwise she would be met with the same fate as the boy. She was laid flat on the ground and a needle like substance was used in pricking the surroundings of her navel and lower abdomen”, he told Journalists .

He further told Journalists that the mutilated genitalia of the little boy was rubbed over the pierced area of her navel, mixing her blood and that of the boy after which he disclosed that the mutilated genital was dropped inside a little sack adding that the girl managed to escape and they chase her but they stopped chasing her when she ran into a graveyard.

He said they all confessed that the reason of their involvement in the dastardly act was “because one Baba Dad’s requested them to bring a male child’s genital to be used for charm with assurance that the charm will protect them against any dangerous weapons such as bullet, matchet, dagger, knives.

They admitted to have received a total sum of Five Thousand naira only for the job.

The offence being capital in nature was however transferred to intelligence and Investigation Unit of the State Command headquarters for discreet investigation after which they will all be charged to court.