A suspected ritualist who has been posing as a mad man has been set ablaze in Delta.
The incident happened on Thursday, January 6, at Ughelli, in Ughelli North Local Government Area of the State.
The deceased raised suspicion after he was seen with a very expensive Android phone among a crowd of people who were patronizing a trader in front of a public primary school in the area.
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He was allegedly approached by some individuals, but before they could get any information from him he pulled out the SIM card from the phone and swallowed it, after which he took to his heels.
An eyewitness told newsmen that the crowd was surprised to see that a mentally deranged person was in possession of such an expensive phone.
The eyewitness said;
“At first, people thought that he stole the phone from somebody in the crowd, but when he started running and swallowed the SIM card, it became clear that he was not a mad man. He was caught and they began to beat him to get information from him.”
The source added that some persons who later arrived at the scene alleged that the suspect was arrested in the past by the police in the Ughelli division for swallowing his SIM card when caught discussing on the phone with an unknown person.
A tricycle operator who was also arrested earlier with the suspected ritualist said;
“When we got to the station, they discovered from bank messages on the phone that the suspect was having over N12m in his bank account.
“I was released a few hours later because mine was a license issue, so I do not know what happened next. I was surprised to see the same suspected mad man a few days later.”
The state police spokesperson, DSP Bright Edafe while confirming the incident said;
“One man was set ablaze in Ughelli community by a mob, but the motive behind the incident is yet to be ascertained.”
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