Police arrest suspect who allegedly sold body parts of officers to ritualists Police

By Stephen Gbadamosi,

Some young men have been arrested in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, for selling heads of two policemen burnt to death around Iwo Road to a native doctor for N1,000.

While the suspects were being paraded by the Oyo State Police Commissioner, Mr Joe Nwachukwu Enwuonwu, one of them, Adewale Abiodun, a 17-year-old, confessed to how he and one Aliu Mubarak, 24, teamed up to sell the burnt heads of the policemen killed during the #EndSARS protests in Ibadan.

Abiodun, Mubarak and the third suspect, a native doctor, identified as Oladipupo Ifakorede, were arrested by the Quick Intervention Unit of Oyo State Police Command on Sunday, November 15, at Oluwo area of Ibadan, after the police operatives’ intelligence gathering and investigation exposed them.

Speaking on the arrest at the weekend, Enwonwu told journalists that Abiodun and Mubarak confessed that they took two heads of the killed policemen away from the scene of incident and sold them to a native doctor for N1,000.

He added that the heads, which had dried up and were broken to pieces, were recovered from the native doctor, Ifakorede.

Ifakorede had opened up also that he paid N1,000 for the heads and had intended to use them for ritual purposes.

In an interview with journalists, Abiodun narrated how he became involved in the deal.

“On Monday, October 22, Mubarak asked me to follow him to Alabata area in Ibadan where his wife was staying.

“We got to Iwo Road and saw that the road had been blocked. Smoke was also billowing.

We moved closer to see what was happening and saw that humans, which we learnt were policemen, were being burnt.

“The mob was hitting the burnt bodies with sticks, and started taking the body parts after tearing them.

“Mubarak also came to me and said he wanted to take some of the body parts. I asked him what he wanted to do with them and he replied that he had someone he would go and sell them to.

“Mubarak went to take the two heads, with some parts of them already knocked off with sticks.

“We moved to the native doctor’s residence at the same area where we live. After negotiation, the native doctor gave us N500, with the promise to pay a balance of N500.

“The native doctor told us he was not the one that would use them, but that he would take them to a Quranic scholar in Ilorin, Kwara State, to use them for ritual purpose.

“After leaving the residence of the native doctor, Mubarak and I went to a restaurant and used the N500 to eat.

“At about 7:00 p.m., the same day, the native doctor saw me at a junction in our area, and gave me N500 again, making it N1,000, as payment for the heads we sold to him.

Mubarak and I shared the money equally the third day,” he said.

Abiodun said he had known the native doctor before as an apprentice in fashion designing.

He disclosed that his boss used to sew materials for Ifakorede and that he used to send him to deliver the sewn materials.

He stated further that his mother had gone to an overnight ceremony and his father was away on a trip as a tanker driver when the police came to arrest him.

Mubarak, 24, corroborated Abiodun’s confession, saying that they both met people at the gathering cutting different parts of the burnt policemen and using sticks to hit the remains.

“Some of the people removed hands, legs, fingers and feet, while some others gathered the ashes from the burnt bodies and took them away.

“I then told Abiodun that I would take the heads that had been packed aside. I found a polythene bag and put the heads in it.

“We left the place and went to Ifakorede’s residence at about 5:00 p.m. We met him on the way and told him we had police heads to sell.

“He said we should not tell anyone about it, adding that he would send them to Ilorin. Then, he gave us N500, promising to give us the balance later.

“Truly, he gave the balance of N500 to Abiodun and we shared it equally,” Mubarak also gave his account.

He said he was arrested by the police three weeks later.

He revealed that he also knew Ifakorede, as he used to sell native chicken eggs to the native doctor.

The third suspect, Ifakorede, also admitted collecting the heads of the slain policemen from Mubarak and Abiodun and paying N1,000 for them.

READ ALSO: #EndSARS: Policemen will no longer be killed like chickens – Police

He disclosed that Mubarak initially demanded N3,000 as payment for the heads he was selling to him, but that he told him he could only pay N1,000 for such ‘little commodity.’

He said he intended to use them for money ritual before he was arrested by the police.

It was learnt that the bones of the heads were recovered from the backyard of Ifakorede’s residence, where he covered them with sand.

Condemning the actions of the suspects, Enwonwu said the police were making more efforts towards apprehending fleeing suspects who had known that they were being looked for.