The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a gang of suspected ritualists accused of killing people and harvesting body parts for sale in various states.
According to Benjamin Hundeyin, the command’s Public Relations Officer, the suspects include a woman who is an Osun priestess, a community chief, an Ifa priest, an Islamic cleric, and a trado-medical practitioner.
Hundeyin explained that the arrests were made based on intelligence reports from the public. The leader of the gang, identified as a 33-year-old man named Ademola Akinlosotu, initially confessed to exhuming corpses from cemeteries and selling their parts to ritualists. However, he later admitted to killing people and selling human parts to customers on demand.
Akinlosotu revealed that he transitioned from exhuming corpses to killing because his clients preferred fresh parts. He admitted to killing two people, including a friend he met through social media, before his arrest.
The suspect claimed that before any killing, a herbalist would be consulted to determine its success or potential consequences. He alleged that a traditional ruler in Badagry requested him to kill his son because of family problems.
Meanwhile, Hundeyin stated that exhibits of different human parts were recovered from the suspects, and the police are pursuing other suspects involved in the criminal activities.
The command intends to charge the suspects to court once investigations are concluded.