An Alfa (Islamic cleric), Sulaiman Hamed, 35, along with two others has been arrested by the Oyo State Police Command on Thursday for being in possession of suspected human body parts.
Abiodun Odude, the state Commissioner of Police, said Sulaiman, 35, conducted Fidau prayers for a dead man but unbeknown to the family he with two associates exhumed the corpse for a money ritual.
Olapade Saheed, 32, and Olatunji Abiodun, 26 his accomplices were caught with the deceased’s head and other body parts. The investigation led to the arrest of Sulaiman and Tope Akinyele, 45, who is allegedly the pastor of a church in Ojagbo, in the Oranyan area of Ibadan.
Hamed stated that he normally bought human flesh for N2,500 in order for him to make charms for his customers.
“Someone introduced Saheed and Abiodun to me. I gave them N2,500 to help me find human flesh. We all met at Ayegun junction, Ibadan. Around 10pm, I took them to a grave where a body that was brought from Warri, Delta State, was buried.
I took part in the prayers for the deceased before he was buried. I left them (Saheed and Abiodun) there, but they refused to let me go. They said they wanted to sleep in my house that night. I got them a place close to my house.
In the early hours of the second day, they came to me with a cellophane bag. I did not check what was inside, but I hanged it on the wall of my house. I was on my way to my office in Ile-Tuntun when I saw them in the midst of a crowd with a human head.
I use human flesh to make money ritual for people and I pay N2,500 for the flesh. In this case, the charm was for myself. I did not ask them to cut off the head and it was not in my possession when the police came.”
His accomplice Saheed said Alfa paid them N1,500 to do the job before showing them the location of the corpse.
“Alfa called us for a job at Ayegun. When we got there, he showed us a grave three houses away from his house. After we finished the job (of exhuming and cutting off body parts), he took what he needed from the remains of the dead man and asked us to dispose of the rest.
We left early in the morning. But on our way, a local vigilance group stopped us and asked what was in the bag we carried. They beat us up after realising that there was a human head and other body parts in the bag. The police later came to arrest us.”
Abiodun has said that Oyo state would continue to be vigilant and eventually rid the state of criminals. The suspects are to be charged to court when the investigation is over.
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