The Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, has read the Riot Act to those engaged in ritual killings in the state, saying they will be made to face the law if caught.
Governor Abiodun said this just weeks after four teenagers were arrested for beheading a young girl for money ritual purposes in the state.
The suspects were said to have learnt the art through Facebook.
In a statement on Wednesday, Governor Abiodun said propriety must be brought back into the psyche of children, adding that all hands must be on deck to arrest the moral decadence, particularly among the youths who are deceived that there is a shortcut to success.
“We all owe it a duty to stop this scourge by whatever legal means possible. I can assure you that we will fight this menace with everything at our disposal. We will not be identified by this notoriety,” he wrote on Twitter.
“Our culture frowns at this and we must bring propriety back into the psyche of the children who we will leave the future behind for.”
The Governor said ritualists will be made to serve as examples for anyone harbouring such sinister routes to wealth acquisition.
“For us, we have emplaced security measures in schools and all the villages, hamlets and towns to ensure zero-tolerance for ritualists. We will trail them, apprehend them, investigate them and make them serve as examples for those harbouring such sinister routes to wealth acquisition.
“You will recall that the Government made parents sign an undertaking on behalf of their wards as part of conditions for enrolment into schools the last term.
“This is to make them partly answerable for their wards’ vices and we are serious about stemming the tide of indiscipline in our state generally.
“Ogun has always been defined by integrity, hard work, service, valour and diligence. All hands must be on deck to arrest the moral decadence, particularly, among the youths who are deceived that there is a shortcut to success.
“Let me warn again, for the umpteenth time that anybody caught engaging in ritual killings and other crimes will be made to face the wrath of the law,” he concluded.
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