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By Florence Akintola
Three men suspected to be ritualists have been nabbed by the operatives of the Oyo State Security Network, codenamed Operation Amotekun.
They were paraded over their alleged involvement in the killing of one Adeniyi Adebisi Samuel, in Ibadan.
The suspects, who were paraded at the Command headquarters of Amotekun in Ibadan were identified as Muhideen Akande popularly called Ogunpo; Abdulrasheed Olanrewaju and Ismail Muraina.
They were arrested around Boluwaji area of Ibadan after butchering and burying the beheaded body of Adeniyi in a shallow grave.
Speaking with journalists, one of the suspects, who identified himself as Ismail Muraina, said: “I was contacted by Moshood Olanrewaju to get him a human head that he needed it for money ritual, and he gave me N35,000 to get it for him. I contacted Ifa, and gave Ifa the money, so myself and Ifa went to one Baba ibeji at Bode Market, but the man couldn’t get the head for us with the money we have at hand. The next day, Ifa brought a man he has already hypnotized; the man was oblivious of what he was doing, and he ordered us to follow him to his house where we slaughtered the man.”
Another suspect, Moshood Olanrewaju, who also confessed to be part of a ritual syndicate, said: “I’m the one that gave them the money for human head, I want to use it for money rituals. I was called when the guy brought the Baba that we killed, I was asked to hold the legs of the man and the man was slaughtered in his room. I was given the head a and I took it home and burnt it to ashes with the intention of using it for money rituals.”
“Here is the ashes of the burnt head, I want to use it for rituals, I want to use it to make my life better,” Olanrewaju added.
The person who killed the man with his knife said: “I’m Olalekan Akande, popularly known as ‘Ogunpo’. I’m 27 years old and I’m a herbalist. I was contacted by this Alfa who briefed me everything about the matter, that his friend needed a human head. He told me that they had already contacted one person and also gave the person money, but I was eventually given N15,000 and I promised to get it for them.
“I took them to where I normally get it at Bode herbal market at Molete but the man couldn’t get us one because we don’t have enough money, so I decided to get it for them.
“We were with N20,000 as at the time we got to Baba ibeji’s shop at Bode market but the money was not enough to purchase the kind of head we needed for the job, so I took the job upon myself to get the head for them, because the pressure was too much on me.
He continued: “So, I picked the man from the road side at Amuloko area of Ibadan and I called the two guys that sent me the errand, to come and assist in killing the man and we slaughtered the man in my room.
“We buried the remaining part of the corpse behind the house, it was my landlady that noticed the place we buried the man and called my attention to it, and I revealed everything to her. She was the one that called the attention of the landlord’s association in my area. The case was reported to Amotekun operatives and I was arrested.”
Speaking with journalists, one of the children of the victim, Mrs. Olaosun Olufunke, said the suspect who claimed to be Olalekan Akande lied, adding that his real name is Muideen Ogunpo. She noted that he is a member of their family.
“It was Muideen that called my Father, Mr. Adeniyi Adebisi Samuel on Saturday to come and collect money for his son, Sunday, and since then we could not reach him through his phone. I was called by my brothers, who were disturbed because they couldn’t get my dad on phone. Before my dad went to Muideen’s house on Saturday, he briefed me about his going there that Muideen asked him to secretly come and collect money for my brother, Sunday.
“Immediately I received the information that my father’s whereabouts is unknown, I called Muideen Ogunpo and told him to provide my father but he declined saying he’s out of town. I was called today that he has been arrested by Amotekun operatives. My father was hale and hearty, he’s not a lunatic as claimed by Muideen. He was 73 years old. I called him on Saturday to come for his weekend soup and it was then that he briefed me about his going to Muideen’s house. Since then, his number has not been reachable,” Olaosun said.
The state’s Deputy Commandant of Amotekun, Comrade Kazeem Babalola, said they heard a report about some suspected ritualists and sprung to action.
The Amotekun Commandant in the state, Colonel Olayanju Olayinka (rtd), has, however, assured that once the ongoing investigation is concluded, the suspects will be handed over to the police for prosecution.