Crimes

Couple, 6 others arrested for killing, selling lady’s parts in Ogun

The Ogun State Police Command says its operatives have arrested a couple and six others for allegedly killing and dismembering a 26-year-old mother of two, Oyindamola Adeyemi, in the state.

The command’s spokesperson, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said this via a statement issued on Thursday.

Oyeyemi said the suspects were arrested on Wednesday, following a report lodged at Obalende divisional headquarters in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State by one Ojo Omolara.

He said the complainant reported that her neighbour, Adeyemi, left home in the morning of December 28 and did not return home, while her phone was switched off.

Oyeyemi stated that the police advised the complainant to come back since it was not yet up to 24 hours.

He said the next day, a patrol team from Obalende division saw a dismembered body of a lady by the road side, which was subsequently taken to a mortuary.

“Fortunately, the mortuary is a stone throw from the house of the deceased and one of the mortuary workers, who knew about the missing person, called the attention of the deceased’s family to come and have a look at the body brought by the police.

“On getting there, the deceased’s friend, Ojo Omolara was able to identify it through the underwears she put on since her head had already been chopped off.

“Having recognised the body, the DPO, Obalende division, SP Murphy Salami, mobilised his crack detectives and embarked on a technical and intelligence-based investigation, which led them to a herbalist in whose possession the deceased’s Itel phone was recovered.

“He was promptly arrested and a search warrant duly executed in his house, where a container full of human blood, later discovered to be that of the deceased, was recovered.

“His arrest led to the apprehension of another suspect, whose house the legs of the deceased were also recovered.

“They both made confessional statements, which led to the arrest of other suspects who are buyers of different parts of the deceased’s body,” he said.

The police spokesman noted that during the interrogation, the suspects confessed that the deceased was lured to the house of the herbalist who happened to be her lover.

Oyeyemi added that the suspects revealed that as soon as the victim entered, she was pinned down by two of the suspects before she was subsequently strangled.

“After killing her, they (suspects) cut off her head, legs and the two hands which they sold to their standby buyers, to be used for money making rituals,” he stated.

The police spokesman said suspects disclosed that the victim’s legs and heart were sold for N30,000 and N50,000 respectively to the buyer, who he said was still at large.

He said the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, has ordered immediate transfer of the suspects to the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigations Departments (SCID) for discreet investigation and diligent prosecution.

The Star