The Lagos State Police Command recently apprehended ten members of suspected criminals who specialise in exhuming body parts from cemeteries and killing human beings for rituals.
Among the arrested suspects was an 85-year-old traditional ruler in Benin Republic, Yusuf Lawal Muse, the son of a pastor said to be the kingpin, Ademola Akinlosota, 33, an Ifa priest, Sunday Badonu, aka Osekure, 25, his father, Vijamiya Badonu, an idol priest and Osetura’s father, Dada Trival, 33, Bale of Akalekumo in Badagry, Hunsu Segun,35, Balogun in Ogboni fraternity, Badagry, Amodu Wahab, aka Alhaji Bororo, 58, specialists in collecting human parts both fresh and dry, Kamolu Aderibigbe, 44, a trade-medical doctor in Ijedfodo and Muyibat Adesina, 49, the herbalist who uses human parts to prepare concoctions for people.
According to Vanguard, the traditional ruler, Yusuf Lawal Muse, is from Diasou in Benin Republic and is married to six women with 21 children.
He reportedly relocated to Ibatefin-Ikpoka in Ogun state and later to Adodo in the same Ogun state, where he lived with his wives and children until his arrest.
Muse, while speaking with the platform, revealed that he relocated to Ogun state after losing about 14 children in his domain and later married a new wife who gave birth to the son he wanted to kill and use his body parts.
The octogenarian, while speaking on what pushed him to make the move, said, after getting married to his new wife, he wanted to have fun only to discover that she was already pregnant.
According to him, I had no other alternative than to accept the child after birth, and I named him Musa. While growing up, he became a torn in my flesh.
He said, “He was into a lot of criminal activities, very stubborn, stealing, and even threatening to kill me. The whole thing came to a climax after he learnt that I wrote a will and excluded him. He then openly resorted to threatening to take my life. That was why I engaged people to kill him first and send his head, heart, fingers and hands to me for herbal purposes.
“Unfortunately, after I contracted the people, they met with an Idol Priest whom I had planned to do business with in the past who, not only discouraged the people I hired but also leaked the plan to my son’s mother. On hearing this, his mother fled to another town with him and we were still discussing the issue when the police arrested me.
“I regret what I planned to do to my son. I have now realized that he is my son and he will bear children tomorrow in my name. My greatest worry now is that my people in Benin Republic have heard this ugly story. I am afraid they may dethrone me. I just don’t know what next to do than to appeal to God to forgive me.”
However, while the traditional ruler was confessing to the team of policemen from Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Special Squad Team 3, led by DSP Toyin Omosebi, it was learned that the leader of the ritualist’s gang, Ademola Akinlosotu, 33, son of a Pastor, opened up stating that he was the person contracted by the traditional ruler to kill his son.
He reportedly also stated that before then, they were taking dismembered body parts, both dry and fresh, to the traditional ruler after killing their victims.
He confessed that so far, they killed two victims since November, last year and taken the body parts to both the traditional ruler and other buyers who have all been arrested.
According to him, “I started by supplying dry corpses exhumed from cemeteries but my clients later coerced me to be supplying fresh body parts.
“That was how I graduated from supplying dried body parts from burial grounds to supplying newly murdered fresh body parts of newly murdered to my clients. My clients said dried human parts were no longer in vogue.
“My first victim was a desperate job seeker whom I met at Okeho in Ogun state at a drinking joint where he normally relaxed with some bottles of drinks every evening. It was the boy who approached me saying he needed a job in Lagos.
“I then called my client, Alhaji Amodu Wahab and told him that I had seen somebody to kill. I took the unsuspecting boy from Okeho to Alhaji’s office where the boy was accessed and confirmed good for ritual.
“While I was on my way, I called an Ifa Priest named Sunday Padonu popularly known as Osetura and informed him of the whole arrangements but on their way, Osetura wasn’t picking up his calls anymore. I had to call Baale to inform him but he called Balogun and briefed him that Osetura was not picking up his calls.
“Balogun then assures that he has a slaughtering ground where the boy can be killed. We took the boy to Ado Odo, slaughtered him dismembered his body and then took the body parts to Alhaji.”
He also told police investigators that he was introduced to Osetura, one of the arrested suspects, by Baale and they started chatting online. “Osetura asked me how I used to exhume bodies and I narrated the process to him. We know the hours when security men at the cemeteries stay out and after targeting them, we strike by exhuming the bodies quickly and disappearing from the scene.
“So, after this, Osekura assured me that he had a space in his house at Igbo-Ora, Ogun state where he could kill and dismember dead human bodies. He usually carried out divination after we had gotten a victim to know whether the ritual would work or not. Once he confirmed that our victim was okay, we would kill the person and cut his body which would be distributed and sold to clients.
“We nearly missed killing our second victim. When he was shot, the bullet missed and caught him in the hand. He did not suspect me when I led him to the enclave. As he was bleeding and crying out, we purposely allowed him to bleed to death after stamping on his stomach and body.
“We took the body which was still shaking from that spot to where he was being cut into pieces. I sat on the guy’s stomach while Osekura brought a knife to cut his head. Others held the victim’s legs and as Osekura was trying to strangulate him, his fingers mistakenly entered our victim’s mouth and got stuck. He had to quickly use a knife to slit his throat and that was how he was able to remove his fingers.
“I must say that I have not made enough money from this evil deed. I am from a scattered home because my father and mother separated a long time ago and I have not seen my father for a long time. I dropped out of school at the primary level because I could not cope. I ended up being a bricklayer until I started exhuming bodies from cemeteries. Now that I am in the police net, I regret all I have done. I leave my fate in the hands of God with a firm promise to change my ways if given another chance.”