The Rivers State Police Command has arrested four suspects for allegedly killing two children for ritual purposes in Port Harcourt.

The victims, Chizaram Onuche and Chidinma Onuche, both seven years old, were reportedly lured, drugged, and brutally killed before their body parts were harvested for money rituals.

Spokesperson for the command, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, stated that operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit apprehended the suspects, including a native doctor, after investigations led to their hideout.

One of the suspects, 27-year-old Aniekan Uko from Akwa Ibom State, allegedly lured the children to an uncompleted building in the Rukpokwu area of Port Harcourt. There, he drugged them using an energy drink known as Black Bullet before killing and dismembering them. Reports indicate that he collected their blood in a bottle for ritual purposes.

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Following his arrest, Aniekan reportedly admitted to committing the crime, claiming he was introduced to ritual killings by a native doctor. This native doctor, Kingsley Opurum, 43, was later arrested in connection with the killings. Preliminary findings suggest that Opurum instructed Aniekan to provide human body parts and blood for a ritual meant to bring him wealth.

Further investigations led to the arrest of Aniekan’s girlfriend and a 47-year-old man, Friday Silas. Authorities suspect that Silas permitted the ritual killings to take place in his uncompleted building in Rukpokwu.

Police officers who visited the crime scene recovered several incriminating items. These included photographs of unidentified individuals, a bottle filled with the victims’ blood, an empty Black Bullet drink container, and a spoon allegedly used to scoop the blood.

The bodies of the murdered children have been taken to the morgue for an autopsy, while police continue investigations to uncover more details and identify any additional accomplices. The Rivers State Commissioner of Police, CP Olesegun Adepoju, assured the public that all those involved in the gruesome crime would face full prosecution.

NAN