LAGOS: Police arrest 10 organ harvesting suspects

THE Lagos State Police Command has apprehended a group of suspected ritualists who specialize in killing people and harvesting body parts to sell in several states.

The suspects include a woman who is an Osun priestess, a community chief, an Ifa priest, an Islamic preacher, and a practitioner of traditional medicine.

While confirming the burst yesterday, the command’s spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, revealed that the suspects, who operate in one of Lagos’ most severe sections, were apprehended based on intelligence report.

According to him, the gang’s leader, a 33-year-old man named Ademola Akinlosotu, originally confessed to exhuming corpses from cemeteries and selling their parts to ritualists before moving on to killing and selling human parts to customers on demand.

Speaking about his background, Akinlosotu stated that he switched from killing people to harvesting parts since his customers preferred fresh parts over dead body parts.

Akinlosotu stated that “while I and some members of the gang would do the killings,” he would provide the parts to a 52-year-old man, Ahmed Wahab, aka Alfa Bororo, who operated from Badagry in Lagos State and Ogun State to supply his clients.

The suspect stated that a fresh human head costs N45,000 or N50,000, whilst a dried human head costs between N30,000 and N35,000, a heart costs N70,000, and hands cost N50,000.

Akinlosotu further admitted to killing two people, including a friend he met on social media, before being apprehended.

He stated that before they killed somebody, they would visit a herbalist to consult an oracle to assess whether the killing would be effective or cause trouble.

The suspect said that a traditional ruler in Badagry asked him to kill his son because he was causing him troubles. He further stated that on the day they were supposed to carry out the killing, a friend he met online paid him a visit and was killed.

Akinlosotu stated that when he kills, he harvests only the person’s head, heart, and hands.

Hundeyin stated that exhibits of various human parts were obtained from the culprits while the police pursued additional suspects. The command stated that the suspects would be charged in court as soon as the investigations were completed.