The Police in Edo said they had arrested an 18-year-old boy who alleged killed his mother for ritual purposes and had sex with her corpse for two days as instructed by the spiritualist

The suspect, with other suspected criminals arrested by the command, was presented to newsmen by the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Johnson Kokumo, in Benin on Wednesday.

The boy told the journalists that he carried out the act after consulting a spiritualist, who promised to make him rich.

He confessed to strangling his mother at 5 a.m. on Oct. 10 in Ologbo, near Benin, while the woman was asleep.

He said that he had sexual intercourse with her corpse for two days as instructed by the spiritualist.

The suspect disclosed that luck ran out on him as he was arrested when his grandmother, who became suspicious of him, raised an alarm.

Also arrested by the command, according to the police commissioner, are two suspected cult members for gang-raping a girl being initiated into their group.

He added that a 21-year-old man from Bayelsa was also arrested for robbing a lady of N1, 450.

Kokumo told journalists that 88 suspected criminals were arrested in different parts of the state in the past three weeks.

He said that among the suspects was a 21-year-old man from Ogun, who was the leader of a car-snatching syndicate that had been robbing people of their cars in Benin metropolis.

Kokumo thanked members of the public for supporting the command and solicited more assistance to enable the police to make the state safe.

He said that the suspects would be arraigned as soon as investigations were completed.