Mr. Pome Banda, a 50-year-old Beninoir parent, and three other people have been detained by the Zone 2 Police Command on suspicion of luring a nine-year-old kid from the Benin Republic for ritualistic money-laundering.
Mr. Ari Mohammed, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), revealed this information to news reporters in Lagos.
In the course of their planning, according to Mohammed, Zone 2 Criminal Investigation Department learned about them, and the police acted as the herbalist who wished to assist them in using the youngster for a ritualistic money-making purpose.
According to him, the agents began talking with the boy’s father, his brother who lives in Nigeria, Benjamin Balobi, and Segun Shile and Ige Koshelu, two Nigerians.
The AIG claimed that on May 30, 2023, Banda and his son left Ajah Jakatome, their birthplace in the Benin Republic, and traveled to Nigeria in order to get a work as a housemaid for the boy.
According to him, a man only known as Baba Shina, who is still at large, received the youngster to serve as his house staff.
Mohammed claimed that after the youngster spent a month with Baba Shina, he was escorted back to Cotonou and N35,000 was paid to his father in front of him as pay in an effort to perplex the boy.
He claimed that between June 17 and June 23, Banda transported the youngster from the Benin Republic back to Nigeria for ritualistic money-making purposes after finalizing plans with other suspects.
The AIG emphasized that all four suspects have admitted to the crime and that they were all taken into custody at Sango Ota in Ogun, the location of the alleged native doctor.
When the inquiry was over, he stated that they will shortly be charged in court.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the boy’s father admitted to wanting to use his fifth child for ritual since he was poor during questioning at the Zone 2 Police Command Headquarters in Onikan Lagos while speaking through an interpreter.
He claimed that he made touch with Mr. Benjamin Balobi, his brother who lives in Nigeria, to ask for a job as a housekeeper and to help with the money ritual.
According to Banda, his brother was successful in obtaining Baba Shina as his home help master.
He claimed to have a relationship with a Nigerian named Ige Koshelu, with whom he had discussions about how he intended to exploit his son.
He claimed that after meeting Koshelu in Ogun’s Ilaro neighborhood, the latter got in touch with Segun Shile, another Nigerian, who allegedly set up a herbalist’s appointment in Ogun’s Owode Yewa neighborhood.
According to Banda, Shile acted as a go-between and organizer for Ige, himself, and the alleged herbalist—whom they were unaware was a police officer.
Benjamin Balobi called the kid’s father to inquire about his whereabouts in Nigeria and to ask for assistance in finding a location for his son to work as a house boy.
According to Balobi, he told Banda that the position he saw earned a monthly pay of N5,000.
I was able to connect him with one Baba Shina, who is currently on the run, after he later revealed to me that he planned to use his son in a money ritual. The boy was brought home by Baba Shina.
“He claimed he wanted to become wealthy, which is why he wanted to use his son in the ceremony; however, I have no knowledge of this. I merely helped him find his son a job as a housekeeper, he claimed.
Ige Koshelu claimed that Baba Shina, the boy’s master, had called Banda before bringing his son from the Benin Republic to let him know that he intended to exploit the boy in a money ceremony.
According to Koshelu, he admitted to Banda that he knew nothing about rituals but promised to assist them in finding a herbalist by recommending a friend who might be able to help.
“I contacted a friend of mine who assured me that he would find someone for them in the Oja Odan neighborhood of Ogun, and that person is who ultimately assisted them.
“That same acquaintance then drove us to the herbalist’s home in Owode Yewa, and from there, we travelled once more to Sango to meet the herbalist. Unfortunately, the cops were already waiting at the spot when we were taken into custody,” he stated.
When Koshelu encountered Segun Shile, he was working as a welder in Oja-Odan when he learned that someone wanted to perform a money ceremony with his son.
Shile reported that the herbalist who had been in contact with Owode Yewa over the phone over the issue had claimed that money ritual was unique.
He claimed that five days later, the herbalist contacted him once more and asked to meet him, along with the man who wanted to use his son in a ceremony for money. They then came to see him.
“The herbalist called me again two days later to say that he had spoken to another herbalist who had agreed to assist them in exchange for N100,000.
Balobi then informed me that he would donate N50,000, with the remaining N50,000 coming from Koshelu and I as the boy’s father would not be bringing a meal because he had submitted his son for the ceremony.
“After the donation, we gave the herbalist the cash. He kept it beneath his mat and then picked up the phone to make a call.
In the meanwhile, he continued, “we were waiting for the second herbalist when the police came and immediately detained us.”
