No fewer than 11 persons were arrested by men of the Oyo State Police Command for being in possession of human parts, which includes nine dry human skulls, one fresh human head, intestines and other vital body parts.
The development was made known to journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the command, SP Adewale Osifeso, on Thursday.
According to the police spokesperson, the suspects were arrested in their hideout at Orita-Aperin area of Ibadan.
Adding to his comment on the arrest, Osifeso disclosed that 16 others were arrested in the state in connection to an alleged kidnapping and armed robbery.
The PPRO stressed that the operation was carried out on February 22 following the intelligence gathering by the police monitoring unit.
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He stated that all the suspects, who specialises in selling human skulls and other organs for ritual purposes, had all confessed to the crime upon interrogation.
He informed the press that the suspects confessed that the dry human skulls were harvested from corpses at burial grounds and that the fresh human head and other body organs were harvested from persons after being killed by their kingpin, simply identified as Amuludun who is now at large.
He, however, said that an investigation was now in progress to arrest the fleeing suspects, and pledged that the command will further communicate developments on the issue to the public later.
Reacting, one of the suspects, and the wife of the principal suspect now at large, said she knew her husband as an Islamic cleric and was surprised when the human skulls were found in his office.
She said she went to her husband’s office to collect money for foodstuffs when the police came and searched the office where the skulls were found.
The command’s spokesman also said the seven suspected armed robbers who invaded Felele community, Ibadan with guns and some other dangerous weapons were arrested.
Osifeso said the victims raised an alarm when the armed robbers were fleeing, adding that the alarm attracted a police monitoring unit that arrested the suspects.