A Muslim cleric identified as Fatai Afobaje has been been accused of teaming up with some security operatives to kill his friend identified as Rafiu Suleiman, 40, in the Badagry area of Lagos State.
According to the police the cleric and his cohorts shared the remains of the deceased man said to be from Kwara state among themselves for alleged ritual purposes.
Police operatives were raided the area and recovered the remaining parts of the deceased corpse plus a clay pot containing the fingers of the dead man with a few Naira notes on Monday, February 16, 2015.
Punch reports that Afobaje and Suleiman had been friends for a long time, and the deceased had given a lot of money to the suspect.
Afobaje reportedly planned with the Chief Security Officer of the area, simply identified as Tanko, to kill Suleiman on Friday, February 12, 2015.
A police source who explained the incident said, “The two men met in a commercial bus. Suleiman had offered to pay the transport fare of Afobaje after the conductor was about embarrassing him because he had no change.
“The Alfa then said he would like to know him better for being so gracious to him (Alfa). So, Suleiman gave the Alfa his address and asked him to visit.
“That was how the friendship started. From what we found out, Suleiman, who worked as a crane operator, would collect his salary and give half of it to Alfa at the end of the month and that happened for a long time.”
The source added that investigation was still on.
In a different account, another source said on Friday, last week, the victim was called by Alfa to come for a meeting around 8pm.
He said, “As soon as the victim got to the street’s gate, the security guards surrounded him and asked who he was looking for. When he told them, they flogged him with charms and he died.
“They then called the Alfa to come and when he arrived, they shared his body parts. While one collected his head, another demanded all his intestines, while another asked for his breasts, which were given out.”
The deceased man’s boss who noticed his absence from work called his wife to know his whereabouts but was surprised when the woman said she had not set her eyes on him yet.
His boss whose identity was not disclosed reportedly alerted police officials of the Morogbo police command who subsequently delved into a search.
The late Suleiman’s brother, Yinusa Wahab, in reaction, said, “We went to the house, but he was not around. We searched everywhere and didn’t see my brother. Later, we saw a mutilated corpse floating on a stream near the house. It was swollen and there was no head. The breast had been cut off.
“We went back to the house and as we looked around, I saw some fingers in a pot which were still being burnt and when I saw them, I could recognise that they belonged to my brother.”
During police interrogation, Afobaje said, “He was on his way to my house when he was killed. When I got there, he had been killed and then we shared his body. I urge my accomplices to also confess because the act has been uncovered and there is nothing we can do about it.”
Confirming the incident, the Lagos state police spokesperson , Kenneth Nwosu, said, “The decomposing corpse of the victim has been recovered, while Alfa Fatai has been arrested.
“The matter has been transferred to the State Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba.”
