The Osun State Police Command has arrested several suspects in separate intelligence-led operations for unlawful possession of firearms and human body parts, as part of measures to ensure a safe and peaceful Christmas and New Year celebration across the state.
The arrests were disclosed in a statement issued on Monday by the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Abiodun Ojelabi, who said the operations were carried out under the directive of the Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan.
According to the statement, the command intensified surveillance and targeted identified black spots and criminal hideouts across Osun State to curb criminal activities during the festive period.
Ojelabi said that on December 16, police operatives arrested one Alarape Wasiu, a resident of the Olorunsogo community in the Panada area of Ikire, for unlawful possession of an unlicensed single-barrel gun and three live cartridges.
The police spokesman noted that the suspect failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for possessing the firearm.
Following his arrest, officers extended the investigation to his village at Baralola via Ikire, where another firearm was recovered.
“A painstaking investigation was extended to his village at Baralola via Ikire, where another single-barrel gun was recovered from the same suspect; these guns are used to terrorize Ikire and environs,” the command stated.
In a separate operation conducted on December 3, the police arrested three men — Taiwo Ogunbode, 47; Thomas Ogo, 52; and Lateef Afeez, 30 — at Ile-Ogbo in Iwo Local Government Area, following credible intelligence that they were in possession of human body parts.
Items recovered from the suspects included “two plastics containing human skin, a white gown used to bury a corpse, two dried bones suspected to be human, 21 pieces of teeth suspected to be human, four horns wrapped with red cloth, three small nylons containing suspected human hair, one small knife, substance suspected to be Indian hemp, and a cash sum of ₦127,000.”
Ojelabi said the suspects confessed to exhuming corpses from a Muslim cemetery located in the Gaa-Fulani area of Ile-Ogbo for ritual purposes.
“The suspects confessed to the crime and admitted to having exhumed the human parts from a corpse at a Muslim cemetery located at Gaa-Fulani Area, Ile-Ogbo, with the intent of using the parts for money-making rituals,” the statement said.
The police further revealed that investigations uncovered the existence of a syndicate that “specialized in exhuming corpses from cemeteries for criminal reasons.”
“All suspects will be charged to court upon the conclusion of investigations,” the command added.
