ABEOKUTA – A suspected ritualist has been arrested in Nigeria’s southwestern city of Abeokuta, police said.
Taiwo Yemitan was found with a fresh human head and dismembered body parts of a female victim in Lafenwa area of Abeokuta, the Ogun State Police Command said.
The 45-year-old suspect was arrested around 1:40 a.m. on Sunday in his home behind Atinsola Petrol Station, Sanni, in Abeokuta, police spokeswoman SP Omolola Odutola said in a statement on Sunday.
According to Odutola, the police acted on a tip-off from the state local security outfits, the Agbekoya and the vigilance operatives, before the suspect was arrested.
“The suspect admitted to knowing the deceased identified as Darasimi, whom he lured to his residence with the intent to kill her. He confessed to the murder, naming two other individuals as Kehinde Yemitan and one Kazeem, as accomplices in the criminal act. Their intention was to sell the victim’s head and other body parts,’’ the police spokeswoman said.
She explained that the dismembered body had been taken to the morgue at General Hospital, Ijaye, Abeokuta, for post-mortem.
Odutola noted that efforts were underway to arrest the accomplices and to locate the victim’s relatives.
She said the suspect would be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Eleweran, Abeokuta, for a thorough investigation.
Odutola added that a similar incident occurred early in the year where a suspect, Azeez Adebayo, confessed to killing three ladies whom he and his accomplices lured through hook up arrangements.
She warned young ladies to stop “hookup” and be “contented,” lamenting that a high number of girls on “hookup” are slaughtered for rituals.
The police spokeswoman urged parents to look after their daughters and also give them thorough training in order not to fall victim to ritualists.
Yoruba elders under the aegis of Kaaro Oojiire ÌmÍ Oodua Foundation (KOOOF) had expressed worry over the rising cases of ritual killing and human body parts harvesting in the south-western region of Nigeria.
The Yoruba elders, in a statement by their Vice President/Diaspora Counsel, Gbenga Adewusi, wondered how cases of human decapitation and harvesting of human bodies have now become a daily occurrence.
The group insisted that something urgent needed to be done to bring the scourge to a halt.
Nigeria is presently grappling with a sinister phenomenon that has already claimed countless lives and left families devastated.
Ritual killing, driven by the belief that human body parts can be used for sudden wealth and power to manipulate and control, has become a scary reality in the country. This heinous practice, which is usually glossed over as a folktale until one falls victim, is an affront to human dignity and a blight on our collective conscience.
Some individuals believe that human organs and body parts possess spiritual powers that can bring lasting wealth, success, and protection. This belief is perpetuated by false narratives and superstitions by dishonest individuals.
Recent data suggests that the problem is escalating.
Nigeria is facing its worst economic crisis in decades, with skyrocketing inflation, a national currency in free-fall and millions of people struggling to survive.
Poverty, unemployment, and a lack of education create an environment where desperate individuals are preyed upon by unscrupulous ritualists.
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