Seven suspected ritualists arrested in Abeokuta

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Seven suspected members of a ritual syndicate have been arrested in different parts of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

The suspects are Lekan Oladipupo, 38, Sulaiman Aremu,30, Ifayemi Madru, 24, Shittu Saheed, 38, Samod Sulaiman, 35, Akanji Moruf, 23, and Tajudeen Adekunle, 36.

The seven were arrested by police detectives from Bode Olude divisional headquarters after one Abraham Okosun reported to the division that his brother, Sunday Okosun, had been killed and his body butchered in the Agbara area.

Police spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said in statement yesterday that the Bode Olude Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Durojaye Rotimi, had visited the scene with some detectives.

He said the detectives traced and apprehended Lekan Oladipupo, who, on interrogation, confessed shooting the deceased with his Dane gun.

Oyeyemi said that Oladipupo’s confession led to the arrest of six other suspects.

Each of the suspects reportedly narrated the specific roles they played in Okosun’s murder and that of others.

He noted that the suspects have a syndicate that sells dismembered parts of their victims.

Oyeyemi stated: “Lekan Oladipupo informed the police that his own role is to look for their victim, usually in the bush around Mawuko area, and shoot such unfortunate person to death.

“He will then contact Sulaiman Aremu, who will butcher the body of the victim and remove vital parts to be distributed to their standby customers.

“The customers are Ifayemi Badru who bought the heart, hands and other parts of the body; Shittu Saheed bought the head; Akanji Moruf bought the heart of another victim while Tajudeen Adekunle bought the head.

“The suspects confessed to have killed not less than four persons in similar circumstances and their body parts used for money-making ritual.

“They also informed the police that they have code names for each human part whenever they want to request for it from the butcher. For example, they normally referred to human head as ball, the heart as transformer, while the hands are called fans.

“The gun and cutlass they used for the dastardly act have been recovered.

Oyeyemi said Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, has ordered that the suspects be transferred to the homicide section of the state criminal investigation and intelligence department for further investigation.

By Ernest Nwokolo/The Nation

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