Police arrest 23 for ritual killing, rape in Oyo

The operatives of the Oyo State Police Command have arrested eight suspected serial ritual killers and 15 others over alleged murder, robbery, and rape.

The Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Ayodele Sonubi, disclosed while parading the suspects at the command’s headquarters in Ibadan, the state capital, on Friday, August 16, 2024.

Sonubi said the command got information about the act of one of the suspected serial ritual killer on August 10 when it was reported by one Ayede and immediately swung into action.

He said the residents of the community noticed an offensive odour oozing out of a building belonging to the 40-year-old suspect who didn’t, however, reside in the house.

The police commissioner stated that the man usually visited the house at odd hours.

He said: “Operatives from Moniya Divisional Police Headquarters swung into action and moved to the scene, where a dry well was seen at the compound of the house.

“Upon close observation, gory sights of what had the semblance of mutilated human bodies were spotted inside the well.

“Eventually, the remains of three unidentified bodies were removed to the State Hospital morgue for preservation and autopsy.”

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Sonubi noted that the suspect was arrested, adding that aside from confessing to the crime, he also mentioned the names of some of his accomplices in the killing of people for money ritual, who were now at large.

Sonubi disclosed that the suspect and others at large had, in April, lured a 28-year-old man to the same scene at Moniya, severed his head and legs, and sold them to two other suspects.

The police commissioner said the suspect further confessed that on August 7, he and others now at large stabbed a 17-year-old boy to death and severed his head and legs, which were sold to a female suspect for N70,000.

He added: “On August 11, an execution of a search warrant was conducted in the houses and premises of the suspects where the victim’s fresh flesh was recovered.

“In the course of the investigation, other suspects were arrested and they confessed that they bought different types of human parts for money ritual from the 40-year-old suspect.”

In an interview, the suspect, who claimed to be an Islamic cleric, revealed that he started killing people for money rituals in 2024, saying he had killed no fewer than five people.

He said he used to collect N200,000 from anybody who gave him a money ritual job.

Items recovered from the suspects included a dried human skull, charms, 89 bags of Cannabis Sativa, a motorcycle, and cutlasses, among others.

The Star