Two mortuary attendants and five accomplices have been apprehended by the police in Osun State for selling human parts, as well as water used for washing corpses.
Emmanuel Giwa-Alade, the Acting Spokesman for the Osun State Police Command, announced the arrests in a statement on Wednesday.
The mortuary attendants were identified as Johnson Daniel, 43, and Adetunji Okunade, 42. The other suspects include Olaniyan Azeez, Balogun Temitope, Oladapo Hammed, Kazeem Rasaq, and Asaka Rauf.
Giwa-Alade reported that the suspects were arrested following credible information from a concerned citizen who revealed that Daniel, a mortuary attendant at Ipetu-Ijesa, was selling corpses from the mortuary to local practitioners of native medicine.
“The remains obtained from the mortuary attendant were used for various ritual purposes. Daniel also admitted to conspiring with fellow mortuary attendant Adetunji Okunade to sell remnants of water used for bathing corpses to interested native doctors,” Giwa-Alade stated.
During the investigation, police conducted searches at the suspects’ residences, uncovering fragments suspected to be human skulls in the homes of Asaka Rauf and Oladapo Hammed. Additionally, a woman’s panty and a notebook containing instructions for ritual practices were found at the residence of Balogun Temitope Asimiyu.