The Oyo State Police Command has arrested two suspects, including a septuagenarian for allegedly exhuming corpses and selling their parts to ritualists.
The command’s spokesperson, Adewale Osifeso, who disclosed this in a statement in Ibadan, said that the arrest was made possible following a tip-off received by detectives at the Iyaganku Divisional Police Headquarters in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Osifeso said while acting on the information, detectives were immediately deployed to conduct a search of the residence of one of the suspects located in the Muslim area of Ibadan.
“During the search, a female human torso and other dismembered human remains, including severed limbs and dried bones, which were stored in bags and paint buckets, were recovered.
“In his confession, the suspect claimed to have exhumed the corpse from a cemetery in Awa-Ijebu, Ijebu North local government area of Ogun State, and admitted to selling the body parts to ritualists,” he said.
According to him, the suspect later led detectives to the cemetery, where his claim was verified and further confession led to the arrest of the second suspect, a septuagenarian, who bought some human parts from him.
The suspect also admitted to his involvement in the illicit trade in human body parts.
“The case has been transferred to the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation Department for detailed investigation, as efforts are being intensified to identify and apprehend all those involved,” Osifeso said.
He added that the Commissioner of Police, Oyo State Command, CP Johnson Ademola had alerted managers of cemeteries to exercise heightened vigilance in light of recent instances of ritualists exhuming corpses.
CP Ademola further warned transporters to scrutinise the contents of their passengers’ bags and baggage to avoid inadvertently facilitating illicit activities.
