The Oyo State Police Command has arrested 10 suspects over alleged involvement in the sale and possession of human body parts in Iseyin and Saki areas of the state.
The suspects were paraded at the command headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan, where the police displayed suspected human remains recovered during operations at their hideouts.
Among the items recovered were suspected human flesh, a human heart and pieces of human skull.
One of the suspects, Nurudeen Ganiyu, said he became involved in the practice after a friend introduced him to it, claiming that mixing part of a human skull with fried eggs would bring him wealth.
Ganiyu, who said the practice failed to produce the promised results, added that he later assisted the police in locating and arresting some of the other suspects.
Another suspect, Abiola Nasiru, was reportedly found with several suspected human body parts. He allegedly told investigators that the items were intended for rituals associated with wealth.
Nasiru further claimed that he obtained the body parts from Taofeeq Raheem, who allegedly admitted to exhuming corpses from cemeteries and harvesting body parts, particularly several days after burial.
Meanwhile, the police said they had also disrupted a separate transnational organised crime network allegedly involved in moving stolen luxury vehicles across Nigeria’s borders for sale abroad.
The Police Public Relations Officer of the Oyo State Command, Ayanlade Olayinka, said the operation followed intelligence received by the command and was carried out by operatives of the Violent Crime Response Unit.
According to him, two suspects were arrested in connection with the vehicle trafficking operation, while a stolen Lexus RX 350 SUV was recovered.
The police said investigations into both cases were ongoing to identify other suspects and determine the full extent of the alleged criminal activities.
