The Police in Ogun State have arrested eight people on Wednesday in connection with the killing of a 26-year-old woman, Oyindamola Adeyemi in Ijebu-Ode.
The suspects are a couple, Taiwo Olutufese Ajalorun and Salawa Oyenusi Ajalorun, Lukman Oladele, Kayode Ibrahim, Alebiosu Adebayo, Bello Akeem, Fatai Rasheed and Fatai Jimoh.
The Ogun State police spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said they were arrested for kidnapping, killing and dismembering the victim’s remains following a report lodged at the Obalende divisional headquarters, Ijebu-Ode by one Omolara Ojo.
Ojo had on December 28 reported that her neighbour, Oyindamola Adeyemi, left home since morning, but never returned home, while her phone was switched off.
“The following day, while the patrol team from Obalende division were on routine patrol, a dismembered body of a lady was discovered by the roadside and the body was taken to a mortuary.
“Fortunately, the mortuary is a stone’s throw distance away from the house of the deceased and one of the mortuary workers, who knew about the missing person, called the attention of the deceased family to come and have a look at the body brought in by the police,” Oyeyemi explained.
According to him, the deceased’s friend, Ojo, was able to identify the body through the victim’s bra and underwear, since her head was already chopped off.
Having recognized the body, the DPO of Obalende division, SP Murphy Salami mobilized his crack detectives to embark on a technical and intelligence-based investigation, which he said led them to Taiwo Ajalorun, a herbalist, from whom the deceased’s Itel phone was recovered.
A search warrant was executed in the herbalist’s house, where a container full of human blood, later discovered to be that of the deceased, was recovered, it was learnt.
The arrest of the man had led to the arrest of his friend, Oladele, in whose house the legs of the deceased were recovered.
“They both made confessional statements which led to the arrest of other suspects who are buyers of different parts of the deceased body,” Oyeyemi said.
While being interrogated, Taiwo Olutufese Ajalorun and Lukman Oladele were said to have confessed that the deceased was lured to Taiwo’s house, who happened to be her manfriend, but as soon as the victim entered, she was pinned down by both Olutufese and Oladele and strangled to death.
“After killing her, they cut off her head, legs and two hands which they sold to their standby buyers to be used for money-making rituals.
According to them, the legs were sold at the rate of N30,000, while the heart was sold at the rate of N50,000 to Akeem Bello, but the person who bought the head is still at large,” Oyeyemi disclosed.
The suspects, Oyeyemi said, confessed further that the victim was the third they had killed in such a manner.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police in Ogun State, Lanre Bankole, has ordered the transfer of the suspects to the homicide section of the state CIID for discreet investigation and diligent prosecution.
