The Edo State Police Command has arrested a pastor simply called “Sharp Sharp” and two others for allegedly brutalising a 90-year-old woman, Adishetu Atairu, Chief Imam of the community, and six others in Ofukpo-Ekperi, Estako Central Local Government of the state.
The treatment meted out to the people was captured in viral videos on WhatsApp and Facebook pages.
The spokesperson for the Edo State Police Command, SP Chidi Nwabuzor, who confirmed the incident to our correspondent on Thursday, said the suspects had been arrested and charged to court.
He said “Yes, the incident is confirmed. The police are aware of it. The pastor and one other person have been arrested and they are in police custody. The suspects have been charged in court.”
A resident of the community, Abu Buhari, told DECENCY GLOBAL NEWS that on July 5, his stepmother, Adishetu Atairu, and others were allegedly dehumanised and assaulted by the pastor and his accomplices.
He said his stepmum, the community Chief Imam and other residents were also allegedly abducted by “Pastor Sharp-Sharp” in the middle of the night by gun-wielding men, physically assaulted, and made to confess to crimes they knew nothing about.
He said, “On the fateful day, residents of my community went to bed as usual, only to be woken up by unknown, gun-wielding men. My stepmum and others were dragged before a waiting crowd and accused of being witches and wizards. My stepmother was brutalised and humiliated and traumatised.”
“The information I got was that the youths who are mainly vigilantes initiated a move to offer prayers for the community to progress. However, the community was not in support of it because of the gangster method employed.
“They went ahead to contact “Pastor Sharp Sharp” whom I learnt charged them a fee. The youths said the pastor had been performing miracles in some areas, so they went against the community’s wish and brought the so-called pastor and started unleashing terror on the people.
“The pastor organised a crusade at midnight and brutalised those perceived as witches and wizards.
“According to the information that was available to me, the youths wrote the names of the people they claimed were witches and wizards and gave them to the pastor who in turn was calling them out during the crusade.
“When the pastor called the names, the youths would go to the person’s house in the dead of the night and forcefully abduct the person to the venue of the event and start assaulting and dehumanising the person.”
He said that in his stepmother’s case, they stormed their house, and abducted her despite the injury she sustained on her leg, to the pastor, saying that they gave her a chair to sit down on because she was not too strong and because of her age but the pastor commanded that she must sit on the floor which she refused saying she committed no offence.”
According to Buhari, after the dehumanisation, the pastor coerced them to pay fees ranging from N10,000 to N13,000 for a “miracle medicine.”
He said he reported the incident to the police who asked him to submit a petition on the incident, detailing what happened.
He said after his petition, the pastor was arrested by the Area Command Office in Agenebode, Etsako East on July 17.
The Edo Muslims for Equity and Good Governance commended the Nigeria Police, and other security operatives for wading into the matter before it escalated.
In a chat with DECENCY GLOBAL NEWS, the group coordinator, Sirajudeen Muhammad, assured everyone in the state that there would be justice for those humiliated.
