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A shrine, suspected to be a hideout for ritualists and kidnappers has been uncovered at Isase, Ojoku, in Ona Ara Local Government Area of Oyo state.
A team of policemen led by the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Muhammed Katsina, discovered fake dollar notes and posh cars at the shrine.
Other items found at the shrine include idols, charms, cowries and mats.
An underground cell where captives were believed to be kept was also discovered.
Two of the suspects escaped but one was arrested. Police gave his name as Ismail Adesina, 43.
Adesina denied the allegation that they were ritualists, but confessed that he and others at large were using the shrine to dupe their victims.
He said: “We have deceived up to five persons, comprising four men and one woman. The woman came to us because she was barren. We asked her to bring N150,000 or N200,000.
“We built this place ourselves. We do the work of Babalawo here. Our clients used to come from as far as Abuja.
“I hail from Beyerunka, Ibadan. My father was a Babalawo. But my father was not a fraudster like me.
“The owners of the cars are our partners that usually bring customers to us.
“My wife divorced me and went away with the two kids she had for me. She left me about two years ago because she asked me for money and I did not have.
“I have been into this business before the divorce issue came in.”
The police commissioner said he had spread his dragnet to catch the fleeing suspects wherever they might be.