Daily Trust

Two persons were allegedly held on Tuesday morning for hiring people to plant charms in the mouth of corpses dug from graves at Karu Muslim Cemetery, Abuja.
Those nabbed included a preacher called Zakiru and a wealthy businessman, who are being detained at Karu Police Station.
A witness, Malam Abutu Useni, said the police swooped on the suspects’ hired hands as they were digging graves and planting amulets in corpses’ mouths in the cemetery.

Another witness, Ibrahim Lamido, said Zakiru was a student under Malam Mai Kasuwa and said people in the area alerted the police, who arrested them.
He said the arrest caused tension at Karu as residents who buried their relatives in the cemetery rushed to the place to see whose graves were tempered with.

A large crowd gathered in front of the cemetery and was dispersed by the police, who shot tear gas into the air, which caused stampede as people ran for safety.  When contacted, the divisional police officer of Karu declined to comment and referred our reporter to the FCT police spokesman.

A policeman in the station however confirmed the arrest of the suspects and said the Hausa community leader, Suleiman Musa with the Sarkin Hausawa of Karu, alerted the police, who rushed to the scene to disperse the crowd.
He said the case has been transferred to the FCT police command for further investigation.