Oyo Police Bust Alleged Human Parts Syndicate, Recover Suspected Heart and Skull

The Oyo State Police Command says it has dismantled an alleged human parts trafficking syndicate after arresting 10 suspects in different locations across the state.

The arrests followed months of intelligence gathering, discreet surveillance and sustained monitoring of the suspects’ activities, according to the command.

Police operatives attached to the Command Monitoring Unit arrested the suspects at their various hideouts in Iseyin and Saki.

The command spokesperson, DSP Olayinka Ayanlade, announced the arrests in a statement released on Saturday.

The suspects are Adam Ibrahim, 42; Nasiru Kabiru, 22; Tijani Wasiu, 54; Abiola Nasiru, 45; Amusa Gbadamosi, 57; Raheem Taofeek, 46; Jimoh Muritala, 35; Suleiman Busari, 47; Ganiyu Nurudeen, 36; and Usman Abdullahi, 52.

Ayanlade said the operation was intelligence-driven and was launched after security operatives spent several months gathering information and monitoring the activities of the suspects.

Following the arrests, police searched the locations where the suspects were allegedly operating and recovered several items believed to be human parts, as well as assorted charms.

“Following the arrests, the operatives searched the suspects’ hideouts and recovered several suspected human parts and charms,” the spokesperson said.

Among the exhibits recovered were “one suspected human heart, human flesh, pieces of human skull and assorted charms,” Ayanlade disclosed.

He said the recovered items had been secured and would be subjected to forensic analysis as investigators continued their probe.

The police said preliminary investigations suggested that the suspects had confessed to allegedly dealing in human parts for different ritual purposes.

The suspects were also said to be cooperating with investigators as authorities seek to establish how the suspected human parts were sourced, procured and intended to be used.

The command stressed that the operation was still ongoing, adding that investigators were working to identify and apprehend other individuals allegedly connected to the syndicate.

Reacting to the development, the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Abimbola Ayodeji Olugbenga, praised the officers involved in the operation.

He described the arrests and recovery as the result of a painstaking intelligence-led operation and assured residents that the command would continue efforts to rid the state of criminal elements.

Olugbenga reaffirmed the police commitment to protecting human life and called on residents to remain alert.

He also appealed to members of the public to provide credible information that could assist security agencies in preventing and detecting criminal activities across Oyo State.

Africans Angle News