Men of Ogun State Police Command have arrested a seven-member gang for allegedly killing a resident, Sunday Okosun, and selling his body parts for a money-making ritual.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.
Oyeyemi noted that the suspects were arrested in different parts of Abeokuta, the state capital.
He identified them as Lekan Oladipupo, 38; Sulaiman Aremu, 30; Ifayemi Madru, 24; Shittu Saheed, 38; Samod Sulaiman, 35; Akanji Moruf, 23; and Tajudeen Adekunle, 36.
The PPRO explained that the men were arrested following a report lodged by the younger brother of the victim, Abraham, at the Bode Olude divisional police headquarters.
He said Abraham told the police that he visited his brother at Agbara village via Mawuko Abeokuta “only to discover that he had been brutally murdered by unknown persons and his remains dismembered.”
Oyeyemi said the Bode Olude Divisional Police Officer, DSP Durojaye Rotimi, visited the scene with a team of detectives.
He added;
The detectives embarked on an intelligence-based investigation to unravel those behind the dastardly act. Acting on credible information, the detectives traced and apprehended Lekan Oladipupo, who on interrogation confessed to being the actual person who shot and killed the deceased with his dane gun.
Oyeyemi stated;
His confession led to the arrest of the other six suspects. On interrogation, all the suspects narrated their respective roles in the gruesome murder of the deceased and others who had been killed in similar circumstances.
Lekan Oladipupo informed the police that his role was to look for their victims, usually in the bush around the Mawuko area, and shoot such unfortunate persons.
Oyeyemi added;
He would then contact Sulaiman Aremu, who would butcher the corpse of the victim and remove vital parts to be distributed to their standby customers.
The customers are Ifayemi Badru, who bought the heart, hands and other parts of the body. Shittu Saheed bought the head; Akanji Moruf bought the heart of another of their victims, while Tajudeen Adekunle bought the head.
He said the suspects confessed to killing no fewer than four persons in similar circumstances and sold their body parts for money rituals.
The PPRO noted;
They (suspects) also informed the police that they had code names for each human part whenever they wanted to request it from their butcher.
For example, they refer to a human head as ball, the heart as transformer, while the hand is codenamed as fans. The gun and cutlass they used for the dastardly act have been recovered.
Oyeyemi said the state Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, had ordered that the suspects be transferred to Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for discreet investigation with a view to charging them to court as soon as possible.
