By MIKE ODIEGWU, Port Harcourt

Real-life experiences of persons, who escaped dens of ritualists and human parts dealers in Rivers State, have unsettled residents of the oil-rich state.

It was gathered that killings for ritual purposes had become so rampant that most residents were afraid to go about their normal activities.

People coming into Rivers were said to be afraid of becoming victims of human parts dealers, who reportedly lure their victims to the forest through various methods, kill, dismember and sell their human parts.

Most of the hoodlums were reportedly operating like commercial vehicle drivers, picking unsuspecting passengers along the road and later diverting them to the bush to either collect ransom from them or kill and sell their human parts to ritualists.

It was gathered that the hoodlums operate mostly around Etche Local Government Area, where most victims, who had escaped from the area said they watched other victims butchered like animals.

But most residents raised the alarm that the criminals had extended their devilish venture to Port Harcourt the capital city, adopting many tactics to abduct their victims.

The lady, in a viral voice note, narrated how her sister escaped the antics of ritualists at the St. John’s area of the capital city.

The lady said the assailants adopted a unique mode of operation to take her sister away in the midst of many people at the busy area.

The assailants were said to have accosted Favour, accused her of being a prostitute and stealing their phones after paying her for her services in an undisclosed hotel.

She said: “The ritual killings in Rivers State have become something else. My younger sister Favour escaped one recently. She went to get something at St. John’s Bus Stop in the evening. On her way back, she said a man came after her and she noticed a black car was following her.

“One came in front and said, ‘you this thief and prostitute, we have caught you’. My sister was wondering whether the guy was talking to her. The next thing, the car blocked her and two other guys came out. They accused her of taking her to their hotel, sleeping with her of sleeping with them in a hotel and stealing their phones despite being paid.

“They even claimed the hotel manager warned them about her but that they didn’t listen. But my sister, Favour was bewildered. She wanted to know whether they were actually talking to her. She taught it was a joke or a prank. But the guys became so serious that people gathered my sister.

“The people started harassing and hitting her and calling her all source of names. She started crying and insisted that she had never met them all her life. People started recording her and asking the guys to take her to the police. People started pushing her into the guys’ car. She said she was about entering the car but on second thought she insisted she was not entering the vehicle.

“She used her head to hit one of the guys and ran to one woman and lay on the feet of the woman. She told the woman to ask them to go and call the police to come and pick her that she was not leaving that place with those guys. She was crying and the woman asked the guys to go get the police. But they said the girl would escape.

“But Favour said they should go and get the police and asked people to tie her legs and hands. They tied her legs and hands while people gathered her. They waited for these guys to come back to no avail. The police station was not far from there. They waited for an hour thirty minutes but the guys did not come.

“It was then the people realised those guys were ritualists and they wanted my sister for something else. They had to release her. This is their mode of operation. They will, embarrass girls and out of shame people will push the girls to them. Everyone one needs to be careful this period.”

Another lady Dorothy said her elder sister almost became a victim when she boarded a vehicle at Chioba area in the morning.

“She usually goes to the early morning market. Recently she boarded a vehicle and immediately she entered the vehicle, she noticed something unusual and wanted to disembark, but the men at the back resisted her.

“She put up a fight and the driver in the driver attempted driving off with the door still ajar. She threw herself out of the vehicle. She was fortunate there was no vehicle coming behind.

“These ritualists are everywhere operating all over the state capital. We are calling on security agencies to investigate and stop this disturbing trend.”

The Police Public Relations Officer, Nnamdi Omoni, could not be reached for his reaction. (The Nation)

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