Operatives of Amotekun corps in Oyo State have arrested three men for allegedly kidnapping and beheading a 73-year-old man, Adebisi Adeniyi.
The suspects — Muraina Ismail, Olalekan Muhideen and Abdurasheed Olanrewaju — told journalists on Tuesday that the victim was kidnapped on Amuloko-Akanran Road on Sunday.
Ismail explained that he had been given N35,000 to get a human head, which Olanrewaju needed to prepare a ritual for money.
The suspect said when he and his colleagues could not get the head, Muhideen brought the victim, whom they slaughtered and beheaded.
He told journalists that he was initially afraid of killing the victim until Muhideen allegedly used a charm to order him and he obeyed.
“I held the legs of the man, Alfa (Muhideen) held his head and slaughtered him,” he added.
Muhideen, on his part, confessed that he hypnotised the victim and asked him to board a tricycle, which they used to whisk him away to where he was slaughtered.
The 27-year-old suspect said he gave the head to his client, who needed it for a money ritual.
According to him, the headless body was taken to the back of the house where it was buried.
He said a woman discovered the shallow grave and called other landlords who reported the case to the Amotekun corps.
Muhideen noted that it was not his first time selling human skulls, adding that his clients paid between N40,000 and N60,000 for one human head.
The headless corpse, which was wrapped in a big bed sheet, was brought to the Amotekun office as evidence.
Olanrewaju, who also confessed that he needed the head for a ritual, said he took it to his house and burnt it in an earthen pot.
He said, “I told them that I needed a head and not a live human being. After killing the man, they gave me the head and I took it home and started burning it. What remains of the head is here in the pot.”
One of the children of the victim, Mrs Olufunke Olaosun, said she was told that Muhideen, whom she described as a relative, called her father to come and collect a sum of money he was owed.
Olaosun said the deceased never returned home after meeting with the suspect.
The woman, who was in tears, said she called Muhideen and begged him to produce her father, but he refused.
She recalled that the family had been going from one police station to another over the matter, adding that they were almost detained at a station where Muhideen had reported that she (Olaosun) accused him of kidnapping the victim.
The Deputy Commandant of Amotekun in Oyo State, Kazeem Akinro, who addressed journalists at the headquarters of the corps in Ibadan, said the suspects would be handed over to the police for further investigation and prosecution.
He said Muhideen confessed to the corps that he had a charm which he used to talk to people and they would do whatever he wanted without any questions.
