The Oyo State Police Command has apprehended eight suspected serial ritual killers and 15 others for alleged murder, robbery, and rape.
Ayodele Sonubi, the state’s Commissioner of Police, made this known while parading the suspects at the command’s headquarters in Ibadan on Friday.
He said the command received information on one of the alleged serial ritual killers on August 10 after receiving a tip from one Ayede.
Sonubi stated that inhabitants of the community had detected an unpleasant odour emanating from a building belonging to the 40-year-old suspect, who does not live in the house, and that the man routinely visits the house at strange hours.
“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,” Sonubi said.
READ MORE: Apapa Port: Customs Intercepts 12 Containers Of Banned Items Worth N1.8bn
According to the police chief, the suspect was apprehended, and he confessed to the crime while also naming some of his colleagues in the killing of people for money ritual, who are now at large.
The Commissioner further stated that in April, the suspect and others at large brought a 28-year-old man to the same location in Moniya, severed his head and legs, and sold them to two other suspects.
Sonubi further revealed that the suspect admitted that on August 7, he and others still at large stabbed a 17-year-old child to death and dismembered his head and legs, which were sold to a female suspect for N70,000.
“On August 11, at about 6:30 a.m., 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,” Mr Sonubi said.
In an interview, the suspect, who claimed to be an Islamic cleric, stated that he began killing people for money rituals in 2024 and has killed no fewer than five individuals.
He claimed that whenever someone handed him a money ritual job, he would take N200,000 from them.
Among the exhibits found from the accused were a dried human skull, charms, 89 bags of cannabis sativa, a motorbike and a cutlass.
NAN
