The police suspect that the building where the corpses were discovered may have been used as a shrine for ritual killings.

Police in Edo State, South-south Nigeria, have discovered 20 mummified corpses inside a building in the state.

The discovery was made on Wednesday following a tip-off, the police spokesperson in Edo, Jennifer Iwegbu, said in a statement on Wednesday.

A video clip posted on Twitter showed the corpses stacked in a room. Some corpses were kept in an upright position, close to the wall. Others were in a lying position.

Ms Iwegbu, an assistant superintendent of police, said the building where the corpses were found is along Asoro slope, off Ekenhua Road, Uzebu quarters, Benin City.

The police suspect that the building may have been used as a shrine for ritual killings.

Out of the 20, 15 are male corpses, three are female, while two are children, according to Ms Iwegbu.

"At the scene, three suspects, Chimaobi Okoewu 'M' and Oko Samuel 'M' both of Afikpo in Ebonyi and Gideon Sunday 'M' of Akwa Ibom State, were arrested, while others fled.

"An intensive effort is ongoing to arrest the fleeing suspects," she said.

The Commissioner of Police in Edo, Abutu Yaro, has appealed to the public to remain calm, while the police are investigating the shocking discovery.

Edo, like several other states in Nigeria, has been grappling with security challenges, especially unresolved killings and abduction for ransom.

A Catholic priest, Christopher Odia, was killed in Edo by abductors in June.

An Italian Catholic priest, Luigi Brena, was abducted by gunmen in July in Edo, and was later rescued by the police.

Gunmen, in 2021, intercepted a hearse at the Benin bypass in Edo conveying the corpse of an unidentified man from Lagos to Enugu State for burial and abducted a bereaved man.