Edo State Police Commad has arrested an 18-year-old boy who alleged killed his mother for ritual purposes.

The suspect, with other suspected criminals arrested by the command, was presented to newsmen by the Commissioner of Police in the state, Johnson Kokumo, in Benin.

The boy told journalists that he carried out the act after consulting a spiritualist, who promised to make him rich.

He confessed to strangling his mother at 5 a.m. on Oct. 10 in Ologbo, near Benin, while the woman was asleep, saying he had sexual intercourse with her corpse for two days as instructed by the spiritualist.

The suspect said luck ran out on him as he was arrested when his grandmother, who became suspicious of him, raised an alarm.

Also arrested by the command, according to the police commissioner, are two suspected cult members for gang-raping a girl being initiated into their group.

He said a 21-year-old man from Bayelsa was also arrested for robbing a lady of N1, 450.

Kokumo told journalists that 88 suspected criminals were arrested in different parts of the state in the past three weeks.

He said among the suspects was a 21-year-old man from Ogun, who was the leader of a car-snatching syndicate that had been robbing people of their cars in Benin metropolis.

Kokumo thanked members of the public for supporting the command and solicited more assistance to enable the police to make the state safe.

He said the suspects would be arraigned as soon as investigations were completed.