The
quest for wealth has sent many into taking desperate steps as residents
of Masfala area of Ibadan, Oyo State were shocked to their marrow on
Tuesday, September 17, when a polythene bag containing human parts was
discovered in an uncompleted building by policemen who stormed the area
at noon.
They
were further amazed when the culprit turned out to be an herbalist,
Abideen Raheem (35), who lives in a building very close to where the
human parts were found. The parts were two hands cut from the wrists
down.
The
suspect is currently helping homicide detectives at the State Criminal
Investigation Department (SCID), Iyaganku, in their investigations into
the case.
Crime
Reports gathered that information about the presence of the body parts
in the neighbourhood first got to Operation Burst operatives. They were
joined by detectives from Ogbere police station, and when confronted
with the body parts, Raheem confessed that he was the one who put them
in the polythene bag but claimed that he took them from a dead body he
found at Ibadan Toll Gate area.
When
detectives went to the spot he claimed to have seen the dead body, no
carcass was found, an indication that the suspect was economical with
the truth.
Raheem
however opened up at the CID during interrogation, confessing that he
removed the hands and head from a corpse in a grave at Muslim cemetery
at Aba Onde area on Monday September 9 and hid them beside the cemetery.
He revealed that he went back a week after, precisely on September 16
to take the hands while he still kept the head there.
Police
sources told Crime Reports that the head had been recovered from where
it was kept, but the identity of the corpse remains unknown.
In
an interview with Crime Reports, the deceased said it was his quest to
become rich that pushed him to committing the act, saying that he knew
he was in trouble when police came to arrest him. He also said that the
act was his first attempt. The Ibadan indigene, who is married with
three children, said he was an herbalist and also into poultry business.
“I learnt the profession from a herbalist who is dead. My poultry
business failed during last Ramadan period as I lost 100 birds.
“I
went to Muslim burial ground at Aba Onde to exhume a corpse from a
grave. I cut the hands and the head. I used my hands to dig the grave
and cut the parts with the knife I took there. The corpse was already
decomposing so it was not difficult. I wanted to use them for money
ritual for myself.
“The
Baba who trained me said if I got those parts, I would burn the hands
along with a snail, a turtle and Sawepepe leaves and mix the ash with
black soap. I would then put the soap on the head and would be using it
to litter the floor of my room so that my business would get be boosted
by the number of the clients that would be flocking my office for
consultation,” he narrated.
Though
he said he regretted his action, he stated that he would not have known
that God existed indeed if he had not been caught. He pleaded for mercy
from the government, promising not to do such again.
Confirming
the story, the police image maker, Olabisi Okuwobi-Ilobanafor said that
the state police commissioner, Mohammed Indabawa, had ordered the State
CID to conduct further investigations into the case, adding that the
suspect would be charged appropriately after the conclusion of
investigations.
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