Seven suspected ritualists nabbed in Ogun

The Ogun State Police Command has arrested  no fewer than seven suspected ritualists from different parts of Abeokuta, the state capital.

Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi confirmed the incident in a statement on Wednesday.

Oyeyemi identified the suspects as Lekan Oladipupo, Sulaiman Aremu, Ifayemi Madru,  Shittu Saheed, Samod Sulaiman, Akanji Moruf and Tajudeen Adekunle.

“They were arrested following a report lodged at Bode Olude divisional headquarters by one Abraham Okosun, who reported that he visited his brother, Sunday Okosun at Agbara village via Mawuko Abeokuta, only to discover that his brother has been brutally murdered by unknown person(s), and his remains had been dismembered,” the force PPRO said.

Upon receiving the report, the Divisional police officer of Bode Olude Division, Durojaye Rotimi, visited the scene with his detectives and then embarked on intelligence based investigation to reveal those behind the dastardly act.

The police spokesperson said detectives acted on credible intelligence, traced and apprehended Lekan Oladipupo.

The suspect was said to have confessed to having shot and killed Okosun with his Dane gun.

According to the police public relations officer, his confession led to the arrest of the six other suspects.

“Lekan Oladipupo informed the police that his own role is to look for their victim, usually in the bush around Mawuko area and shot such unfortunate person to death.

“He will then contact Sulaiman Aremu, who will butcher the corpse of the victim and remove vital parts to be distributed to their standby customers,” the police spokesman stressed.

One of the suspects – Ifayemi Badru – police authorities say, bought the heart, hands and other parts of the body, while Shittu Saheed bought the head.

This is even as Akanji Moruf is accused of buying the heart of another of their victims, with Tajudeen Adekunle buying the head.

The statement continued, “The suspects confessed to have killed not less than four persons in similar circumstances and that their body parts were used for money-making rituals. They also informed the police that they have code names for each human part whenever they want to request it from their butcher. For example, they normally referred to human head as ball, the heart as a transformer, while the hand is code-named fans.”

Items recovered from the suspects include a gun and cutlass which the suspects used in carrying out their activities.

Reacting to the incident, the Commissioner of Police in the state, CP Lanre Bankole, described the incident as the height of man’s inhumanity to man.

He equally ordered that the suspects be transferred to the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for discreet investigation with the view to charging them to court as soon as possible.