The Commissioner in charge of the Lagos State Police Command, Fatai Owoseni, has said the den uncovered in Ile Zik, Ikeja on Thursday was not being operated by ritualistic as suspected.
Owoseni spoke shortly after four men were arrested at the suspected ritualistic den.
There had been pandemonium in the area when another tunnel was uncovered by residents and some persons of questionable character found there.
This came on the heels of Wednesday’s discovery of another den in Ijaiye area of the state.
When the news of the latest suspected ritualistic den became public, the Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos State Police Command, led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Tunji Disu, rushed down to the scene and arrested the two suspects.
But this was not before they had been beaten by the irate crowd. They were prevented from setting the suspects ablaze.
But Owoseni said: “We have to stop this culture of jungle justice and allow the law take its course.
“This matter is a pure case of destitutes and not ritualist. Our men personally entered the place and saw some people with tools dressed in mechanic clothes.
“There was no shrine and no human parts. To address the situation, people living under bridges, tunnels, uncompleted building and trenches should be careful because you stand a chance of being tagged as ritualist and being mobbed.
“On our part, we will go all out on an enlightenment campaign and we will involve our Divisional Police Officers to help in the awareness campaign.
The enlightenment is targeted at those living in uncompleted buildings and under bridges on their vulnerability.”
