The residents of Benjamin, in the Eleyele area of Ibadan, yesterday insisted that the news of a ritualists’ underground tunnel discovered in the area was true and urged the state government to demolish some abandoned facilities around the place, including an abandoned filling station.
The news of the tunnel hit the city of Ibadan on Sunday, which made residents from all parts of the city troop there to catch a glimpse of the said spot.
The scene was still busy with people trooping there to confirm the news when the Eko Trust correspondent visited the area yesterday afternoon.
The acting police spokesman in the state, Akeem Adeyemo, had on Monday described the information as a false alarm which should be discountenanced.
But the residents maintained yesterday that the tunnel was a den for ritualists.
Our correspondent noticed that female underwear and other objects which looked like charms littered the area, fuelling suspicion that nefarious activities were going on in the area before the discovery.
A resident of Benjamin, Anuoluwapo Ogunleye, declared in a chat with Eko Trust that the police spokesman who dispelled the information was “not sincere.”
Ogunleye said, “We are the people living in this area and we know evil people are there. The policeman who spoke with you people was not sincere. Before now, the police had arrested many people in the tunnel and took them away. Why did the police arrest them? What are pieces of women underwear doing there if there were no people perpetrating evil in that tunnel? The best thing is for the government to demolish that abandoned filling station in that place so we can have rest,” she said.
Another resident, Francis Ekene Umenwa, expressed the fear of residents of the area to walk in the area at night.
“With what happened at the weekend, people are now afraid to walk at night in our area. I will suggest that government should take over the filling station where the incident was discovered. I am convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the place is a ritual shrine. Please kindly tell the Oyo State government to come to our rescue,” Umenwa said.
