By SouthernVoicenews,
A suspected ritualist who pretend to be insane was Thursday, January 6, burnt alive by angry mob in Ughelli, Ughelli North Local Government Area, Delta State.
The suspect who pretended to be insane drew attention of the mob after he was cited with an expensive Android phone among some persons, who have gone to patronize a merchant that deals on second hand items at the front of Otovwodo Primary School in Ughelli.
A source who spoke on condition of anonymity said; that everyone was surprise when they discovered that the man was holding such an expensive phone. This the source said prompted some persons to approach the alleged ritualist, but on seeing that he had been noticed, he quickly pulled out the SIM card in the phone, swallowed it and took to his heels.
Luck, however, ran against him as the angry mob chased, caught and eventually set him ablaze.
“Everybody was surprised, how an insane person will be using such an expensive Android phone. At first people thought he might have stolen the phone from somebody among 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. However, in the process of beating him, some persons came and said that this same mad man was arrested about two weeks ago by the policemen and was taken to the Ughelli Police station after he performed the same act of swallowing a SIM card when he was caught discussing on the phone with someone about selling body parts.
According to another witness, on hearing that he was arrested and released, the mob got angry and set him ablaze immediately to avoid the police or any security agency from rescuing him.
Corroborating what the first witness said, another eyewitness, a tricycle operator who crave anonymity said, “I was arrested with this same boy two weeks ago. We were taken to Ughelli “A” Division. When we got to the station, they discovered, from bank messages on the phone that he was having over N12million on his bank account.
“I was released few hours later because mine was license issue. So I did not know what happened next. I was surprised to see this same mad man few days later still pretending to be mad.”
Another witness alleged that the suspected ritualist after being arrested by the police, was later released after an alleged payment of N500,000 to the police.
When contacted, the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bright Edafe said; “I am aware someone was burnt but the reason he was burnt I don’t know”.