The Oyo State Police Command has arrested 10 suspected human parts merchants and recovered suspected human remains, including a human heart, flesh and pieces of human skull, from their hideouts in Iseyin and Saki areas of the state.
The suspects were paraded on Wednesday at the command’s headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan, where details of their alleged activities were made public.
One of the suspects, Nurudeen Ganiyu, told journalists that the police initially arrested him but later assisted investigators in apprehending other members of the group.
Ganiyu said he was introduced to the practice by a friend, who instructed him to mix a portion of ground human skull with fried eggs as part of a ritual believed to bring fortune.
According to him, however, the practice failed to produce the expected results.
Another suspect admitted that he had also mixed ground human skull with a snail meal for ritual purposes, believing that the practice would make him wealthy.
Wasiu Tijani, another suspect, said he used human flesh in a ritual he believed would bring him fortune.
He, however, said the ritual did not achieve its intended purpose.
The police also paraded Abiola Nasiru, who was allegedly found in possession of different human body parts.
Nasiru reportedly confessed that the parts were intended for rituals believed to bring wealth to people.
He further disclosed that he usually obtained the human parts from Taofeeq Raheem, another suspect in police custody.
Raheem reportedly admitted to visiting cemeteries to exhume corpses and harvest human body parts, particularly about eight days after burial.
The arrests and recovery are expected to form part of the police investigation into the alleged network involved in the acquisition and use of human remains for ritual purposes across parts of Oyo State.
