By Francis H. Murray
Police in the Southern District Headquarter town of Bo have arrested one Jeremiah Mbaimba Tucker, a herbalist, for an alleged case of exhuming human remains for ritual purposes.
Tucker was arrested on Sunday 8th November by night police personnel deployed at the Sammy community, along the Bo- Koribondo Highway. Police say he was in possession of decomposed human remains, including a human skull and hand, together with a white burial cloth, all of which he admitted to have exhumed from a community cemetery.
His arrest comes amidst several complaints and concerns raised by local residents of the three communities referred to as Sammy 1, 2 and 3 about suspected acts of ravaging graveyards, which the people say had resulted in the vandalizing of graves of dead relatives.
In the process of his arrest, another suspect by the name of Dauda Rogers, also a herbalist who was with him that night escaped and is still on the run.
According to Police Regional Media South, Mohamed Bobson Senu, the suspect went to meet his colleague to accompany him to the Sammy community cemetery for the purpose of a ritual sacrifice, which they believed will give them some mystic powers.
The police spokesman said while they went to perform the ritual, Rogers decided to exhume the grave of his own daughter, who died some years back, for the purpose of immolation, adding that it was during their return journey that they were intercepted.
Inspector Senu further disclosed that the Southern Region had gone for months without any major incident of crime, saying this was the first incident of this nature within the period.
While he assured residents of the Southern Region of relative calm, peace and stability, he noted that more arrests were on the way in relation to the incident as the arrested suspect is helping the police with their investigations.
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