Operatives of the Special Anti Robbery Squad, SARS, Ikeja, Lagos
have smashed a syndicate that specialize in selling human parts,
Vanguard reports.
The 3 suspects whose names were given as Mustapha Muritala, Sunday
Oluyeba and Adenike Olanrewaju, were arrested at the Ojumerin area of
Sagamu, Ogun State following a tip off. Recovered from the suspects were
two human skulls suspected to have been procured from a graveyard.
When interrogated, one of the suspects, 42 year old Herbalist
Mustapha Murtala, said he ventured into the business two years ago
following an offer of N30,000 for a human skull.
“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.”
Recounting how he was arrested, Mustapha said
“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.” he said
After his arrest, he was made to put a call across to his partner in
crime, Oluyeba, demanding a human head. Oluyeba, who was indisposed,
instructed one of his herbalist friends, Baba Beji, to go for the
supply. He was arrested when he got there.
Further investigations by police led to the arrest of another suspect
in Sagamu. The suspect, Juwon Olarewaju, another herbalist, reportedly
fled on sighting policemen and his wife, Mrs Olarewaju was arrested
instead.
34 year old Mrs Olarewaju, said she was shocked to find out her husband was involved in such a trade. She said;
“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.” she said