A 50-year-old man, Ganiyu, who was arrested by operatives attached to Mapo Divisional Police Headquarters in Oyo State Police Command, has spoken on how his quest for wealth made him and his suspected accomplice, Raheem (42) to exhume a buried corpse from a cemetery and severed its head for money ritual purpose.
Ganiyu also disclosed that his accomplice got a reward of N25,000 for the head he helped in its dismemberment from the body.
The state Commissioner of Police, Ngozi Onadeko, had said during a recent press briefing that operatives who were on patrol around Popoyemoja and Idi Arere areas of the state capital city nabbed Ganiyu when a human head concealed in a cellophane bag was found in his possession on December 6, at about 12:17am.
The state police boss said that during interrogation, Ganiyu opened up that the body, from which the head was removed, was exhumed from a cemetery along Akanran Road, for which he paid N25,000 to Raheem.
In an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, 50-year-old Ganiyu, who claimed to be an Alfa (Islamic teacher), said that he left his job as a mechanic to focus on his religious calling.
Stating that the second suspect was his close friend, Ganiyu told the Nigerian Tribune that a discussion between them on a particular day led to their action.
According to him, “one day, we were discussing how difficult things were and I told him that I know about a ritual which I can do that would be bringing money. I told him that the major ingredient for the ritual is the head of a corpse and he said he could get it with N25,000.
“I wanted to use it for myself not for anybody. After exhuming the corpse and severing the head, he handed it over to me, while I put it inside a plastic bag. It was while I was on my way that I was accosted by the police who demanded to know what was in the plastic bag I was carrying. That was how I was arrested.”
In his confession, the second suspect, Raheem, corroborated what his friend said thus: “There was a time we were discussing and he said he needed a human head for ritual purpose and I told him that I would help him get it. He said if what he wanted to use it for worked, he would also help me do the ritual so I would also be making money.
“So, on the day we carried out the act, he was even the one who located the cemetery and I agreed to follow him. We went to a cemetery at Ayegun area and exhumed a corpse and severed the head. I then handed over the head to him.
“We had earlier agreed on N25,000, so when I gave him the head, he also handed the money over to me. It was when he was going that he was arrested by the police.
“I just went to a grave, I didn’t know whose body it was. I just went to one at a location which I knew would be easy to carry out the task.”
Nigerian Tribune learnt that the suspects were arraigned at Chief Magistrates’ Court 1, Iyaganku, Ibadan on December 9 on a three-count charge of conspiracy, misconduct with regards to corpse and unlawful possession of a human head.
They were remanded in Abolongo Correctional Centre, Oyo town, while the case was adjourned till February 2, 2022.
