MFM pastor slumps, dies during service

Olawale who was a Pastor with the Mountain of Fire and Miracles (MFM) in Ikorodu, reportedly slumped and died during a church service at his home on Sunday, February 18.

ALSO READ: Herbalist, 5 Badoo cult members arraigned for allegedly killing pastor, family

Instablog9ja reports that a friend of the deceased, Moshood Isamotu, relayed the incident and revealed that he was buried two days after the shocking occurrence.

As earlier reported, the deceased was left bruised, battered after the Badoo attack last year and was forced to spend weeks at the Lagos Island Hospital.

May the soul of the deceased rest in peace.

Baddo Cultists

Of all the criminal activities that dominated news headlines in Lagos State in 2017, the serial ritual killings in Ikorodu area, also known as “Badoo Killings”, was perhaps the most talked about among Lagosians last year.

What generated further fear among residents was the peculiar modus operandi of Badoo and its seemingly intractable and invisible nature. As the killings went on for months, the affected communities and state security apparatus appeared clueless until it was nip in the bud toward the end of the year.

It all started after a suspect, described by some residents of Ikorodu area as a “serial rapist and ritual killer”, was arrested at Ibeshe. His name was given simply as “Badoo”.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that after every attack, the perpetrators would write “I am Badoo” and paste on the door of victims.

This continued in a seemingly invincible manner until he was caught after he raped and killed a 27-year-old woman and her nine-month-old child.

The suspect was arrested by the community, allegedly after some rituals were performed.

Many had believed that the arrest of the suspect would bring an end to badoo operations. But that did not happen as it marked the beginning a journey into new dimension of ritual killings in the area as many more family members were murdered at night.

For several months, Badoo operations in Ikorodu area reverberated across the state and created fear among Lagosians at large.

The police appeared overwhelmed. Human and vehicular movements in parts of Ikorodu were restricted during the period. Many communities imposed dusk-to-dawn curfew while some residents moved out to other areas for safety.

Embarrassed by the continuous Badoo killings, the then Commissioner of Police in Lagos, Fatai Owoseni, met with traditional rulers in the areas and read riot acts to royal fathers who might be complicit in the killings.

Residents did not watch idly either, as many resorted to jungle justice, killing those identified as Badoo cult members during mob actions after losing faith in police ability to arrest the ugly trend.

ALSO READ: Native doctor who prepares 'juju' for killer cult group captured by police [Photos]

According to NAN findings, Badoo members carried no guns or machetes. Their weapons are primarily stones, preferably household grinding stones and mortar, clubs and pestle. They carried out their operations by sneaking into targets’ homes at night and smash their heads with grinding stones or mortars, then collect their blood with handkerchiefs, which were sold for ritual purposes.

Unofficial sources say more than 30 persons were sent to their early graves while Badoo reign of horror lasted.

In joint operations between Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), men of the Onyabo, a local vigilante group and the police, led by the then Lagos Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, (now Commissioner of Police), Edgal Imohimi, many of the suspected members of the cult group were caught.