The Osun State Police Command has arrested two mortuary attendants for selling human body parts to suspected ritualists.
The Acting Police Public Relations Officer of the command, Giwa-Alade Emmanuel, disclosed this during a press briefing at the police headquarters in Osogbo on Wednesday, September 18, 2024.
The mortuary attendants, Johnson Daniel, 43, and Adetunji Okunade, 42, were arrested alongside the suspected ritualists, Olaniyan Azeez, Balogun Temitope Asimiyu, Oladapo Hammed, Kazeem Rasak, and Asaka Rauf, following a tip-off from a concerned citizen.
“The above-named suspects were arrested upon credible information from a good-spirited individual that one Johnson Daniel, a mortuary attendant at Ipetu-Ijesa, sells portions of human remains deposited at the mortuary to native doctors,” Emmanuel stated.
According to him, the investigation led to the discovery that Daniel, along with his accomplice, Adetunji, conspired to sell both human remains and water used in bathing corpses to local ritualists.
During a search of the suspects’ residences, items were recovered, including suspected human bone fragments at the homes of Asaka Rauf and Oladapo Hammed.
A female undergarment and a notebook containing ritual instructions were also found at the residence of Balogun Temitope Asimiyu.
Emmanuel stated that all the suspects have been charged in court.
“The said suspects use these remains gotten from the mortuary attendant (Johnson Daniel) for different ritual purposes. Daniel also confessed that he conspired with one other mortuary attendant named Adetunji Okunade ‘m’ to sell remnants of water used in bathing corpses to interested native doctors.
“In the course of the investigation, a search was conducted at the residences of these suspects which led to the recovery of a fragment of substances suspected to be human skull at Asaka Rauf ‘m’ and Oladapo Hammed ‘m’ residences while a female pant and a notebook containing instructions on ritual practices were recovered from Balogun Temitope Asimiyu’s residence.”
Similarly, the police also paraded five additional suspects—Taiwo Adekunle, Adebayo Opeyemi, Hasan Ibrahim, Oba Wasiu, and Olajide Oladapo, for alleged armed robbery.
Items recovered during the arrest include a Ford Jeep, a Hunter motorcycle, an empty shell cartridge, an iPhone, and a magnet.
Emmanuel assured the public that investigations into both cases are ongoing.