By Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The Ondo State Security Network Agency, codenamed Amotekun, has arrested 150 persons for their alleged involvement in various criminal activities in the state.
One of the suspects, Timothy Odeniyi, was allegedly arrested with human parts.
The 35-year-old was reportedly arrested on Sunday in Ondo town, Ondo West Local Government Area of the state.
Parading the suspect in Akure, the state capital, on Monday, the Commander of Amotekun Corps in the state, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, alleged that Odeniyi killed a man, severed his body parts and buried his remains in a shallow grave.
“We want to intimate the public on the need to be very careful. Of late, the trend is shifting gradually from daily kidnapping to ritual killings. The public should be careful of the craze to make money by these young men.
“We have a suspect in our custody, Timothy Odeniyi, who was caught and arrested with the legs and hands of a human being wrapped in paper. Upon interrogation, he took us to where he severed the body of the person and hurriedly buried the person in a shallow grave.
“He was arrested in Ondo town and committed the crime on January 30, 2022. We want to warn the public to be careful of who they go out with. We have a number of them that we are still investigating who will go out with their girlfriends solely for the purpose of killing them for ritual purposes,” Adeleye said.
Odeniyi, who used to be a truck driver in one of the breweries in the country, said his former boss promised to pay him N30 million to bring the human parts to Lagos.
He said the former boss, who worked in the waste section of the company, wanted to use the body parts for rituals.
“I went to the burial ground to cut the legs and hands of one of the corpses buried there. Before I was caught, I had planned to take the human parts to the person that sent me in Lagos. He promised to pay me N30 million once I deliver the items.
“I only went to the burial ground in the Sabo area of Ondo town to cut the parts. I did not kill anybody and this was my first time. I used to be a trailer driver. The person that sent me used to be my boss when I used to drive trucks,” Odeniyi said.
The Amotekun commander, who paraded other suspects, said they were involved in kidnapping, armed robberies and vandalism.
He added that some underage herders, as well as criminals who disguised as scavengers, were also part of the 150 suspects.
“Within this January, we arrested about 150 suspects for various crimes and out of them, 32 are still with us.
“Some of them were suspected kidnappers, armed robbers and some were involved in the vandalisation of 132 KVA power lines under construction. Some of them were ex-convicts who ran away from prison; some jumped bail and were rearrested. Some pretended to be scavengers, but we found weapons, guns and locally-made pistols in their trolleys.
“The teenagers among the suspects were caught contravening the underage anti-open grazing law. They were found to be grazing with about 300 cows. They were about 10 to 11 years of age. We are still waiting for their parents to come and face the music.
“Some of them will be handed over to the police for further investigation, especially the homicide issues. After discreet investigation, the remaining ones will be taken to court for prosecution,” Adeleye added.
