Men of the Rivers State Police Command are hunting for the leader of a ring that specializes in the sale of human parts.
According to information reaching our news desk, the police have spread their dragnet in an effort to arrest the ritualist who has also been operating a shrine.
Members of the gang, from various accounts, directly abduct and butcher unsuspecting persons in order to hawk their vital organs to buyers who want such parts.
We have learnt through knowledgeable sources that some members of the group, including the son of the ritualist, were arrested when special forces drawn from the police stormed their location in Omuma.
The kingpin who was not immediately identified abandoned his exotic SUV and fled as police swooped.
The Police were however successful despite the fact that the kingpin evaded arrest.
Some persons allegedly connected to the sale of human parts are being interrogated at a police facility along Ojoto Street in the Diobu area of Port Harcourt.
Similarly, vehicles owned by the ritualist have been seized and towed to Port Harcourt, according to a police source.
The reputation of the Etche ethnic nation has been severely bashed as a result of what has been transpiring at Omuma, particularly after initial reports revealed that the area has become a new haven for an inhuman and indecent trade.
Telegraph checks show that the Etche traditional institution as well as the Ogbakor Etche and all well meaning people from the area have been disturbed by the development.
“This has given us a bad name”, Iheanyi Amadi remarked, “Etche people are now seen as ritualists.”
Most people invited by their friends who hail from the Etche nation are afraid to make such trips out of fear.
But the success of the recent police raid is giving credence to a strong feeling among the people that the operation of the merchants of death may have been completely dislodged.
The Leader of the group now on the run is believed to be a ritualistic killer who prepares portent charms for persons seeking to have control of both the physical and the spiritual realm.
Information filtering out suggests the man whose first name was given as Lawrence reportedly shared close ties with Oshishikankwo who terrorized parts of Rivers State before he was liquidated by police.
Local sources contacted just as we were set to publish disclosed that the surname of the mastermind of the trade in human parts might be Anyanwu.
We have learnt that there were gory scenes where the police struck. Wigs belonging to women possibly killed and dismembered were strewn around on the floor. There were bras and panties too, according to a dependable account.
“The stench oozing out of the area used by these killers was quite awful”, a local source told this publication in an interview.
Victims killed and cut into parts may have been declared missing by their families and friends who are unable to trace their whereabouts.
We have learnt that a young man not long ago, lured the dad out late at night and succeeded in taking his father to the den of the human butchers.
He was reportedly stripped naked while a discussion on how to dispose of him went on between his son and the end users of human flesh.
The man ran the race of his life and escaped. Instead of returning to his home that night, he sought shelter and protection at the residence of a Chief.
The morning after that fateful night, news of the victim’s lucky shave with death made the rounds.
The Police moved in, trailing the “man killers”, until they struck effectively and captured some of the culprits.
Many pray that the native doctor and ritualist who has brought pain and sorrow to some families would be caught and made to face the music.