http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/14917-man-arrested-exhuming-corpses-at-church-cemetery

Man arrested exhuming corpses at church cemetery

| Print | E-mail

Written by Adebayo Waheed Friday, 17 December 2010

A middle-aged man, simply identified as Salami Aliyu, 35-year-old, was on Thusday, arrested by men of the Oyo State command of the Nigeria Police for allegedly exhuming corpses at a church cemetery.

The suspect, the Nigerian Tribune gathered, had around 1l:00 p.m. entered the Methodist Church cemetery, at Elekuro area of Ibadan, the state capital, and was caught in the act.

A source told the Nigerian Tribune that the suspect had broken into the cemetery and was using cutlasses to exhume corpses when he was caught by some members of the church.

The incident was later reported at the Idi Aro Police Station and the suspect was arrested and taken to the station for further investigation.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Superintendent of Police Ajimua Olatunji, confirmed the incident and said it was being investigated.

He said the man had confessed to the crime and he was selling the human parts to somebody who was being sought for by the police.

The suspect told the Nigerian Tribune that he went into the business because of money.

Items recovered from him were cutlasses and red cloth suspected to be charm.

Boy 15, cuts off uncle's head for N8,000

Written by Saka Gbeminiyi
Sunday, December 12, 2010

[Wasiu] It was surprise galore on Thursday at the Ogun State Police Command Headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta, when a 15-year-old boy, Wasiu Odunewu confessed that he cut off the head of the immediate younger brother of his father, Odunewu Ojo and sold it for N8,000.


The suspect confessed that he was forced to commit the crime due to financial constraints. "It was a week to the just concluded Ileya festival and I needed money to buy clothes and to entertain my friends. So when my friend brought the 'business', I quickly accepted it to raise money for the festival."

Police source at the Eleweran told Sunday Tribune that the suspects have confessed to the crime and investigations on the matters would soon be completed. The suspects - Wasiu Odunewu, Toibu Babalola, 23 and Shakiru Tiamiyu, 17 - are currently cooling their feet in one of the cells at Eleweran.

Speaking on what led them into the crime, one of the suspects, Toibu Babalola told Sunday Tribune that It was his immediate elder brother, Yusuff Babalola that requested that he should help him get a human head. "It was about a week to Ileya festival, I cannot remember the exact date when my brother came to our village from Lagos. He told me that I should help him get a human head, either fresh or dry. He promised to pay any amount. My brother is working in Lagos. When he gave me the assignment, I told him to give me sometime. I contacted my friend, Wasiu Odunewu about it and he (Wasiu Odunewu) agreed to get it at the cost of N10,000.00. I called my brother on his mobile phone to inform him about the development and he agreed to pay N10,000. To carry out the deal, Wasiu also informed his other friend, Shakiru Tiamiyu about the deal. So, we all agreed to carry out the assignment."

On how they carried out the deal, Toibu told Sunday Tribune that it was agreed among three of them that it would be very difficult to get a fresh human skull and that since the alleged receiver, Yusuff Babalola was not keen on whether the head should be fresh or dry, it was agreed that the suspects should dig a grave and cut off the head. Wasiu quickly suggested that he would lead them (suspects) to the grave of his uncle "when we agreed to carry out the assignment, Wasiu told us he would lead us to where his uncle Odunewu Ojo was buried. The three of us - Wasiu, Toibu and Shakiru left for their village in Debari in Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State. We carried out the assignment in the night around 9.00 pm. But before then, we had gone to the burial site in the afternoon to survey the area. When we went to cut the head, we dug the ground and quickly remove the head and to avoid suspicions we covered the grave and left."

The suspect, Toibu told Sunday Tribune that immediately he got the head, he called his brother to come for it. "After carrying out the deal, I called my brother and he came from Lagos to take the head. He gave me N8,000 and I gave the money to Wasiu. He shared it with his friend, Shakiru. My brother must have used the head for the ritual he wanted to perform."

How they were arrested by the Police, Sunday Tribune learnt that some people in the community noticed that the grave had been tampered with and they raised alarm. They contacted the father of one of the suspects. The family of the dead man went to a traditionalist whom employing charms, the suspects confessed to the crime.

Also speaking and how they were nabbed. Wasiu, told Sunday Tribune saying, "You see, on the day of the operation, we went to the burial site of that my uncle in the afternoon and some people saw us. So, when they saw that the grave had been tampered with, I became the first suspect. The people in the community told my daddy about it and he brought out a charm and told me to tell him everything I knew about the missing head. At that point, I told him that I was responsible for it. He was very sad about it because, the head was that of his immediate younger brother whom he was fond of while alive. My father later invited the Police and I was arrested. I later gave the Police all the necessary information that led to the arrest of my colleagues."

All the suspects explained that they used the money realised from the deal to take care of the ileya festival expenses. "The deal came at a time I needed money for Ileya festival, so when he brought the idea, I could not resist it," Wasiu said.

http://odili.net/news/source/2010/dec/12/615.html

Superstition turns people into bloodthirsty savages,and banishes ALL logical thought processes from their empty cranial cavities. All who commit murder and dismemberment while under the influence of irrational beliefs are by definition beyond all redemption, and must therefore be terminated with extreme prejudice, hopefully before they can further pollute the human genome by breeding.