Officials of the Nigerian Police Force, and the Federal SARS have obtained clearance from Interpol in Cotonou, Benin Republic, to proceed with a forensic examination of a dead victim of the Ejigbo pepper sodomy case.
The Interpol, in the latest development, also assigned an Investigative Police Officer, in Cotonou, to lead the Nigerian Police team in its cross-border operations into the Benin Republic. The Nigerian Police Force as part of the investigation is to also run a forensic check of the deceased victim. With the death of one woman in the ‘Pepper Torture’ case, police and prosecutors are looking at the charge of conspiracy and murder in the shocking incident.
In Lagos, the Police had arrested several members of the gang that allegedly perpetrated the gruesome torture of three women in the Ejigbo market, which was captured on video, and widely screened on the Internet. The three women suffered the heinous crime over allegations of stealing pepper from the market worth N50. Two of the women, including a teenage girl, were gruesomely tortured with the thrusting of grounded pepper into their private parts.
One victim of the torture, Juliana Agonma, died as a result of severe injuries sustained from the experience. Her death was attributed to the pepper torture, in addition to other cruel treatment, that included the sticking of a wooden cane into her private part.
Part of this brutal attack suffered by Agonma was also captured in the video that circulated widely. Juliana’s father, known as the ‘palm wine tapper,’ took his daughter to doctors for treatment in the hope that she would recover. Following her death, Agonma was buried in Porto Novo, his hometown.
As part of an on-going investigation to determine the damages suffered by the victims, the Lagos Police are carrying out additional forensic exams on the surviving victims. The arrested perpetrators, and gang members involved in this attack will be charged with conspiracy and murder, a police source revealed.
Three members of the gang are still at large. One of them, known by the name of Tiri, is reportedly a popular coordinator of the Oodua People’s Congress, the OPC, in the Ejigbo area. He vanished once the shocking incident became public, and the video of the incident went viral.
It would be recalled that the Police authorities in Lagos had earlier paraded 12 persons and declared four others wanted following their involvement in the torture of three women at Oba Morufu International Market, Ejigbo, Lagos. “Tiri has been declared wanted by the police, and is the subject of a nationwide, and cross border manhunt.”
Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Frank Mba, who paraded the suspects before newsmen, said some of the suspects were members of the Oodua People’s Congress, OPC, providing security at the market and officials of the market association who he said also extorted N50,000 from the victims’ father.
Mba gave the identities of the suspects as Isiaka Waidi, the Baba‑Oja of the market, who masterminded the dastardly act that culminated in the arrest, debasement, torture and extortion of the victims; Haruna Abdullahi and Buhari Yusuf, who mixed the concoction of pepper and alcohol that was applied on the bodies and private parts of the victims.
Others include Saheed Adisa, Lateef Tijani Ahmed Adisa, the Iyaloja Oloruntoyin Dauda, Adekunle Adenuga, Jimoh Busari and Azeez Akinosun.
According to him, operatives of the Federal Special Anti‑Robbery Squad, FEDSARS, led by Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP Chris Ezike, who coordinated the arrests, are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of one of the victims, Juliana Agoma, a Republic of Benin national, who was moved to Cotonou by her father where she subsequently died.
He said: “It would be recalled that earlier this year, the Inspector General of Police, M.D. Abubakar, in a move to ensure speedy delivery of justice in this case, ordered the immediate take-over of its investigation by the Force Criminal Investigation, Lagos Annex, from the Lagos State Police Command.
“Consequently, a team of crack detectives, led by DCP Chris Ezike, swung into action and conducted discreet investigation in line with standard best practices, during which the suspects, in connection with the matter, were arrested.
“The Police have also declared wanted the following suspects: Tiri, an alleged member of OPC who was captured in video footage and alleged to have stripped naked one of the victims, Ajoke Agoma, mother of the two other female victims in the presence of her husband; Otepa Oluranti, Akeem and Michael Abolore, whose whereabouts are yet unknown but who have been implicated in the heinous crime.
