Ogunbode Taiwo, who is one of the three suspects arrested by the Osun State Police Command for alleged exhumation of corpses and unlawful possession of human corpses and unlawful possession of human parts, has confessed that he was the one who convinced and encouraged his relative, Afeez Lateef, to get the human parts and carry out the necessary ritual. He claimed that he did that in a bid to get something that would change his life for the better. According to him, Afeez was hesitant in going for human parts from corpses.

Forty-seven-year-old Taiwo was arrested along with a native doctor, Ogo Thomas, and Lateef, aged 30, after returning from a cemetery where they went to exhume corpses, from which they removed some body parts needed for ritual.

Saturday Tribune learnt that the suspects were not usually particular about the state of the corpses they needed to get parts from, whether fresh, decomposing or decomposed. They would also cover the corpses with the sand excavated from the grave so that its being tampered with would not be detected.

The Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Abiodun Ojelabi, who spoke on the arrest of the three suspects on Monday, disclosed that on December 3, police at Iwo Area Command received credible intelligence that some people were in possession of human parts at Ile Ogbo, via Iwo.

As a result of the information, he stated, a team of policemen swiftly moved to the scene and the three suspects were arrested inside a dilapidated building.

Exhibits recovered from them included two plastic buckets containing human flesh, two dry bones suspected to belong to humans, white cloth used to wrap a corpse, 21 pieces of suspected human teeth, and four horns wrapped with red cloth.

Others are three small polythene bags containing suspected human hair, a small knife, substance suspected to be cannabis sativa, and cash sum of N127,000.

“The suspects confessed to the crime and admitted to have removed the human parts from exhumed corpses at a Muslim cemetery located at Gaa Fulani Area, Ile-Ogbo, with the intent of using the parts for money-making rituals.

“Investigation revealed that the syndicate specialised in exhuming corpses from cemetery for criminal reasons. All suspects will be charged to court after the completion of the investigations,” the PPRO said.

He added that the Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, had directed all Divisional Police Officers to constantly conduct intelligence-led raiding of the black spots within their area.

In his confession, Taiwo, who claimed to be a farmer and security guard, said: “On the night we were to go for the human parts, Lateef told me he was not interested in doing such a thing. I was the one who encouraged him, telling him that he should try it to see if would end poverty in his life. I told him of my experience with many people who claimed they would help me but didn’t achieve anything after collecting a lot of money from me. I had been going to many native doctors and Ifa priests, though I’m a Muslim. Monsuru is my Islamic name, but I was a security guard, so I needed fortification, better living and academic pursuit for my children. I will not lie, I was the one who convinced my relatives.”

The native doctor, Thomas, aged 55, who gave a background story, narrated: “I live in Ile-Ogbo. I’ve been living there for almost 40 years. I was a farmer before I learnt how to practise as a native doctor from one Ifaniyi. I was an apprentice for seven years before I became independent and got my own office in 2024. However, I didn’t learn using human parts for ritual from Ifaniyi. I saw it in a record owned by the man I first got my training from in Abeokuta, Ogun State. That Ifa priest/native doctor’s name was Ifayemi. He also didn’t teach me directly, but he was practising it before he died. I had left him before his death.”

When asked how he went from divination to using human parts for ritual, Thomas replied: “Those arrested with me were sourcing for a way to get fortune (àwúre). It is also known as oshólè. To perform the ritual, the body parts of a corpse would be needed.”

He also disclosed how he met Taiwo and Lateef: “I went to buy ingredients from those selling herbs and other traditional ingredients (elewe omo) in Iwo Town when two men saw me with Ifa bead on my wrist. This was in November 2024. They asked if I was a native doctor and I affirmed it. They told me that they were not doing well in their vocations. I told them to come to my office for consultation, and they did.

“They sought my help so that they would experience a positive turnaround and be able to compete with their peers. They requested for oshólè. Like I said, I knew about ritual regarding oshólè from my trainer in Abeokuta. I left Abeokuta and came to my family in Ile-Ogbo when I was very ill. After going through surgery and getting well, I couldn’t farm again, so I went to continue training under Ifaniyi.

“I told the two men that we needed to get human flesh, teeth, the clothes worn on the corpses we would exhume and the white cloth wrapped round Oluwere tree. Whoever would go to unwrap the white cloth from the tree take another there to replace it, so that the removal of the previous one would not be noticed.

“After getting those items, we would then get herbs and alligator pepper (ataare) to use with them. When I explained to them, they agreed to do what I said. We proceeded to a Muslim cemetery at night on December 2 and worked till the early hours of December 3 to get human parts from buried corpses. We got teeth and clothes from one corpse we exhumed and got flesh from another.

“We did not bring out the corpses from the grave; we just excavated some sand till we got to the buried bodies. We removed the things we needed and covered it. We didn’t particularly aim to get fresh human corpses; all we wanted to get were the needed parts.”

Thomas said he had never performed such a ritual for anyone before his arrest, but disclosed that he used to see his late boss do it when he was still with him. “This is my first time of doing such a thing,” he said.

Speaking on how he and two others were arrested, the native doctor stated: “It was not long after we got to my office in the morning that the police arrived, and we confessed our involvement to them.”

The third suspect, Iwo-born Lateef, aged 30, explained his involvement: “I went to herbs market with my relative, Taiwo, to make purchases when we saw a man with bead on his wrist, indicating that he was an Ifa priest/native doctor. We asked him of his vocation and he confirmed what we suspected.

“I told him that I desired good fortune as I had been unsuccessful in my vocation. He replied that he would perform a ritual that would bring fortune to me. He mentioned human parts from a corpse as some of the things needed for the ritual. I told him I couldn’t get them, and he replied that it would be easy to get them in a cemetery.

“He demanded for N200,000, but we were able to give him N186,000. He took us to a cemetery and asked me to stand by the gate to be on the watchout. He and my relative went to get the human parts.

“We were in his house in the morning while he went to get other ingredients. On his return, we were discussing when police came to arrest us.”

They all appealed to government to have mercy and forgive them. (Saturday Tribune)