Rivers: Disabled man dies as father, pastors attempt to sell hunchback ‘mercury’

A Rivers State-based vigilance group, ONELGA OSPAC, said its men arrested three persons, including two pastors, over the death of a 24-year-old man, Lucky, in the Port Harcourt area of the state….CONTINUE READING…CONTINUE READING

Lucky reportedly died after an operation to remove his hunchback.

An officer with the Planning and Advisory Committee of the security group, codenamed OSPAC, told Sunday PUNCH that the suspects were nabbed while trying to flee Port Harcourt.

One of the suspects, who was said to be the pastor of a new generation church in Osiakpo, near Omoku in the state, Olatoye, 54, said the victim was handed over to him by his father, Ejike, and Ejike’s younger brother, Pastor Paul.

Olatoye, during interrogation, was said to have revealed that the duo brought Lucky to him for a surgical operation to enable the family to extract ‘mercury’ from his hunchback.

He said, “Paul said his brother (Ejike) had a son who had a hunchback which he was planning to do away with.

“I asked him why, and he said the boy was a thief; the boy was this and that. He said when the boy was much younger, the father attempted to sell him, but it didn’t work out well.

“He asked whether I knew the people who could take up the boy. I told him that I would make inquiries.”

The suspect noted that they all agreed to a surgical procedure and contacted an associate said to be in Abeokuta, Ogun State, who promised to pay N10m for ‘mercury’ which would be taken from the victim’s hunchback.

He added, “The boy in question (Lucky) even came to meet me, begging me that if the hunchback could be removed, I should help him. He said he wanted to be like a normal human being.

“I told them that he might not survive the procedure, but he said he would survive it. That was when we fixed a date for us to travel for the procedure.

“My first contact was an NGO in Owerri, Imo State, which said they would extract the ‘mercury’ and pay us N5m.

“I asked him what would be our own percentage. At last, both Paul and Ejike accepted the N5m offer, but the NGO didn’t show up again.”

The suspect explained that he approached another ‘contact’ in Abeokuta, Ogun State, which offered to pay N10m but that the payment would be made in two or three months’ time, which all parties agreed to….CONTINUE READING