Oyo Amotekun discovers r!tual!sts’ enclave in Oremeji, Ibadan, arrests three suspects
A 49-year-old man, Eleshin, was a few days ago, arrested by the Oyo State command of the Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN), popularly known as Amotekun, after the discovery of a human head stuffed with black soap, in a house he used as ‘office’ for his clients at Oremeji area of Ibadan. Also found there were sticks with what looked like roasted human intestines wrapped round them.
Earlier on the same day, at about 5am, a 22-year-old man, identified as Onaade, was nabbed after he was seen dragging a young lady out of a storey building in front of Eleshin’s abode. The young lady (names withheld), said to be about 18 years old, was seen leaning on Onaade.
It was learnt that prior to the discovery last Thursday, the area had been suspected of habouring people in shady deals. This made Amotekun officers to be on the watch.
The young man was discovered to be the only one staying on the first floor of six rooms while an Islamic teacher (Afaa), said to be about 30 years old, was also the only one staying on the ground floor, also of six rooms.
Noticing blood trickling down the girl’s legs, with her inability to utter a word, the Amotekun officer who saw them questioned the man on what happened. Adio was said to have initially told the officer that she was his friend’s girlfriend, and that he was taking her to the hospital.
Later, he reportedly said that he met the girl at Iwo Road and brought her home. He said that when he wanted to sleep with her, he saw blood and semen in her private parts.
Those who saw Onaade approaching with the girl told Amotekun that they noticed each of them carrying a bag as they went inside the house.
When Amotekun got in contact with the parents of the girl, they said that their daughter went to Ilesa, Osun State, and that they still spoke with her on the phone, with her telling them that she had boarded a vehicle and was on her way back. The parents however said that afterwards, her line was switched off.
This made Amotekun to search the desolate house, only to discover an Alfaa also living alone on the ground floor. Found in his room were disused clothes for male and female, as well as school uniforms.
Suspected of plan to dump the girl somewhere, the Amotekun officer, joined by colleagues, held on to Onaade and asked the Afaa to follow them. But in a jiffy, the Afaa ran away.
By then, neighbours had gathered and some of them took the girl to a private hospital where he was examined by a doctor. The doctor was said to have confirmed the blood and semen in the girl’s private part. From there, she was transferred to University College Hospital, Ibadan, where she had yet to utter a word as of the time of filing this story.
Determined to unearth other clandestine activities around the area, the Amotekun officers reportedly noticed a house behind the storey building and decided to check it.
As they rummaged a shelf, they saw intestines wrapped round sticks, already roasted. In order to get to the root of the matter, Saturday Tribune learnt that one of the people gathered there gave them the phone number of the man using the place.
Pretending to be an intending customer, a call was put through to the man. Shortly after, he arrived with his friend, only to discover that his caller was one of the security agents on ground.
After getting his approval to check the rooms in the building, the Amotekun officers noticed a box on a top shelf. As it was brought down, the people there exclaimed in shock as they beheld a human head stuffed with black soap, thus confirming the officers’s suspicion.
When Saturday Tribune contacted the second-in-command of Amotekun Corps, Mr Akinro Kazeem Babalola, he narrated how the suspects were arrested.
According to him, “early on Thursday, September 14, one of our officers sighted a man later identified as Adio, with a young female leaning on him as he emerged from a house behind an institution at Oremeji.
“The lady was very weak. We discovered that the lady was likely to have been raped. Blood was dripping from underneath her legs. It stained her skirt too. The upper floor contained six rooms, and he was living there alone.
“We asked him of what happened to the lady and where he was taking her. He told us that he only helped her the previous night when she was raped. He said further that she slept in his room over the night.
“Wondering how such a thing could happen in that house, we moved into the house. We saw another house behind it and that it was a place being used for native medicine and charms preparation.
“We noticed sticks around on which roasted intestines were wrapped. We moved to the house and discovered a human head filled with black soap.
“The discovery pulled a crowd and one of the residents gave us the phone number of the man staying there. We called him and pretended as if we came for consultations. He came and was asked how he got the human head found in the house he was staying in. He gave an excuse that it belonged to his friend who kept it with him. That was how we arrested him and his friend who came with him.”
Saturday Tribune learnt that the discovery shocked the crowd that had gathered at the scene. Police officers reportedly joined Amotekun to control the situation as the irked crowd wanted to set the house ablaze.
In an interview with Eleshin, however, he denied ownership of the human head, saying that his friend, simply known as Wasiu Ijebu, was the one who gave it to him to keep till he would come to Ibadan from his base in Warri, Delta State to prepare charms.
Eleshin, who said his family compound is at Popoyemoja in Ibadan, but lives at Amuda area of the city, claimed to be an Islamic teacher and a native doctor. He told Saturday Tribune: “I’m an Afaa. I started since 1990. It is true that a human head filled with black soap was found in my house.
“It was one of my friends, popularly known as Wasiu Ijebu, who brought it to me, asking me to keep it for him as he was travelling to Warri, Delta State where he has his office. He’s also an Islamic cleric cum native doctor.
“He used to come to Ibadan to prepare charms in the offices of those he was familiar with. He was coming to my office to prepare charms because the coal pot and earthenware pot I have to do the work are faster than the ones he has.
“He said he would collect it back on his return to Ibadan. He told me that he kept black soap in the container he brought, only for me to discover the human head after he left. I didn’t know where he got the head from.
“Unfortunately for me, when he was called by the Amotekun, he denied giving me the head to keep for him. He quickly cut off the call made to him.”
Eleshin also spoke on the intestine also found with him, saying that it was got from a python, not from a human being. He said that the second suspect arrested with him went with Wasiu Ijebu to buy the python’s intestines and liver.
“They told me that they purchased them from a woman called Iya Dada at Asejire (a boundary town between Oyo and Osun states). The liver was used to prepare charms for money. Aside the liver, some herbs such as Alupayida leaves, ataare and ogaye were combined with the liver and roasted in the pot. This was at about three or four weeks ago.
“After roasting the liver for the charms at my office, he told us to hang the intestines to dry, as they might be useful at another time. He thereafter left for Warri.”
When asked how long he had been engaged in such act, he said that he had never done such a thing as he didn’t have the boldness.
The second suspect, Adigun, who said he was a native doctor in his 50s told Saturday Tribune that he just got into trouble by following his friend home to share the fish they bought together.
According to him: “I was into herbs preparations for clients. I use leaves and barks to prepare concoction. I swear with my life that I know nothing about the human head. It is true I followed Wasiu Ijebu to a woman at Asejire to buy parts of a python. The woman wanted to sell the small piece of liver for N15,000, but Wasiu said that it was too expensive, so he decided to take the intestines with the liver for N20,000.
“We were there when the python was split open and parts of the entrails were brought out. We were given the parts we paid for and I returned to Amodu’s house with Wasiu. He just removed the liver, threw it in the pot to roast. That was all I knew about the intestines. I didn’t know anything about the head.”
The second-in-command of Amotekun said that the two cases had been taken to Police Area Command, Agodi, while Saturday Tribune gathered that they had been transferred from there to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Iyaganku, Ibadan, for further investigations
