Police Thwart ‘Indian Occult Temple’ Setup In Lagos, Arrest Suspects

Two men have been arrested in Lagos State for allegedly trying to set up an occultic shrine named ‘Indian Occultic Temple’.

Their intention, it was gathered, was to defraud victims by making them believe that the oracle has powers to make them rich and successful.

The two men, Ifeanyi Nwodo and Dainel Johnson, were seen making occultic pratices around Agufoye area of Ikorodu, which led to their arrest.

They were among 34 suspects paraded on Wednesday at the state’s police command, Ikeja for engaging in varying crimes including armed robbery, stealing, cultism and unlawful possession of firearms, among others.

“On January 13, 2024, at about 1500 hrs, based on credible intelligence that some boys were seen making occultic pratices around Agufoye area of Ikorodu, operatives of the Command swiftly arrested one Ifeanyi Nwodo ‘m’ aged 39 and Dainel Johnson ‘m’ aged 32.

“Investigations revealed that they were trying to set up their occultic shrine named ‘Indian Occultic Temple’ with intent to defraud victims by making them believe that the oracle has powers of making them rich and successful. Several occult items including moulded human head, crafted human effigies were found in their shrine,” the Commissioner of Police, CP Fayoade Adegoke, said at a press briefing.

Adegoke, who is approximately one month in office as CP of Lagos, said a total of 16 firearms were recovered in the last one month, including a toy pistol, 72 live cartridges, 75 live ammunition, one expended cartridge, one pistol magazine, six axes, four daggers, one digger, five cutlasses, two vehicles, one POS Machine, fake registration plates and various charms.

“…it is with great sense of professional fulfilment I stand before you today to present to you our achievements in Lagos State Command since my assumption of duty approximately a month ago. Before you today we have a total of thirty-four (34) suspects who have engaged in varying crimes including armed robbery, stealing, cultism and unlawful possession of firearms etc.

“From all these cases which we successfully cracked, we recovered a total of sixteen (16) firearms including a toy pistol, seventy-two (72) live cartridges, seventy-five (75) live ammunition, one expended cartridge, one pistol magazine, six axes, four daggers, one digger, five cutlasses, two (2) vehicles, one POS Machine, fake registration plates and various charms,” the CP said.

According to Adegoke, all suspects would be charged to court at the conclusion of investigation.

He assured Lagosians that the command under his watch would continue to do everything operationally possible to ensure that crime and criminality is brought to the barest minimum in the state.