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| Suspects |
Operatives
of the Special Anti Robbery Squad, SARS, Ikeja, Lagos have smashed a
syndicate that specialised in selling human parts, arresting three of its
members.
The suspects are two popular herbalists
in Sagamu area and a mother of two whose husband was alleged to be a supplier
of the human parts.
Recovered from the suspects were two
human skulls suspected to have been procured from a graveyard.
Their arrest, according to Police
sources, followed an intelligence report received by the Lagos State Police
Command on activities of human parts dealers, which made the Commander SARS,
Abba Kyari, to embark on a manhunt, that led to the arrest of the three
suspects, Mustapha Muritala, Sunday Oluyeba and Adenike Olanrewaju, with others
still at large in Ojumerin area of Sagamu, Ogun State.
Suspects’ account
During interrogation, 42-year-old
Murtala said he ventured into the business two years ago following an offer of
N30,000 for a human skull.
According to the father of one, “I am a
herbalist from Sagamu, Ogun State. I was introduced to human parts business by
one Sunday Oluyeba I knew through my friends, Olanipekun and Kazim, three years
ago.
“My friends asked me to get
native birds called eyeoshi and eyeoke, and I succeeded in getting them. They
later came and requested a human head with an offer of N30,000. They said they
wanted to use it to prepare concoction for a pregnant woman in labour.
“They told me they also use human parts
to prepare concoction for women who have difficulty in getting pregnant. What
they do is to grind the human skull, mix it with water and give to the woman to
drink. Such concoction cleanses the stomach, after which she would become
pregnant.
“Sunday brought the human head and I
paid him N15,000 for it. This is the second time I am buying a human skull from
him. I do not know where he got them from.”
How I was arrested
“I was going about my herbal business
when a man came and demanded human skull. As I handed the nylon where I kept it
to him, some men I later discovered to be policemen swooped on me. I have never
killed anyone in my life.”
After his arrest, he was made to put a
call across to his partner in crime, Oluyeba, demanding a human head.
Oluleba could not make it but instructed one of his herbalist friends,Baba
Beji, to go for the supply. He was arrested when he got there.
His confessional statement led
operatives to another suspect in Sagamu. The suspect, Juwon Olarewaju, another
herbalist, reportedly fled on sighting the policemen but his wife was arrested
instead.
Mrs Olarewaju, 34, in her statement to
operatives, expressed shock over the sales of human parts by her husband.
According to her, “I have been married
to Juwon for five years and we have two children. My husband is a
herbalist but I didn’t know he was dealing in human parts. I was arrested in my
house at about 2am over the weekend. I swear, I didn’t know anything about all
these. I was arrested because my husband whom they came to arrest ran away.
“These people implicated my husband in
the matter; they said my husband supplied them with a human head.”
The suspects, as gathered, would be
charged to court soon.
