IBADAN — The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Oyo State division has arrested two herbalists and five others, including three women, found with a severed human head.
The suspects claimed the human head was a fake even though the head had a deep machete cut and blood dripping from it. A coffin, three cars, calabash, clothes, 16 handsets and charms were also found in their possession.
The suspects who all claimed to be indigenes of Oyo town were paraded before newsmen at the headquarters of the NSCDC in Ibadan over the weekend.
Daily Trust reports:
Addressing newsmen, the state Commandant of the NSCDC, Mr. Shem Obafaiye, said after some intelligence gathering, his men rounded-up the suspects at Iware area of the state.
He advised parents to monitor the movement of their wards and ensure that they do not send little ones to far places. “We have to ensure we monitor the whereabouts of our children. It is important that we do that, especially as we approach election period. We are Africans”, he said.
On the claims of the suspects that the human head was fake, the NSCDC boss said that would be left for a coroner to decide. He hinted further that the suspects would be handed over to the State Security Service for more interrogation.
The leader of the group, Mr. Hamidu Ogunnjimi, who is a herbalist, told journalists: “What you are looking at is not a human head as they claim. We used cassava flour to mould it. We put blood got from a cow so that it would look as a real human blood. I agree that I am a fraudster and not a ritualist. I have been practising as herbalist for the past ten years. I don’t kill human beings.”
