Two suspects, Mustapha Bello and Damilare Oladele, have confessed to exhuming a human head from a grave in the Amuloko area of Ibadan, Oyo State, after being apprehended by the Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN), codenamed Amotekun.
The grisly discovery was made after a night guard noticed the suspects carrying a suspicious bag at dawn on Monday. When confronted, Bello, who was holding the bag, attempted to flee, leading to a struggle with the security officer. His accomplice, Oladele, managed to escape at that moment, but Bello was eventually overpowered and handed over to Amotekun for investigation.
Speaking to the Sunday Tribune, Bello, a 32-year-old carpenter from Ibadan, admitted to the crime and revealed how he was introduced to the gruesome act. “I went with my partner to exhume a dead body and remove the head at Amuloko area,” Bello confessed. “One Saheed, a security man, introduced me to this work when I told him I had no money. He promised to pay me the next day after the job. We used cutlasses and our hands to dig up the grave. Saheed used to sell the heads and would give me N5,000 as my share.”
Bello also detailed his involvement with another accomplice, Damilare Oladele, during the last operation. “Damilare and I started working together in February. He would watch out for security while I dug up the grave to exhume the corpse. We carried out the operation around 1 am and waited until dawn to leave,” he said.
Oladele, a 25-year-old barber from Oranyan, Ibadan, corroborated Bello’s account, adding that they had worked together five times. “Mustapha was the one who knew about the operation and invited me. My role was to keep watch while he dug up the grave. He promised me N5,000, which he paid me each time, except once when he gave me N10,000 for a fresh head,” Oladele confessed.
The two suspects were apprehended after a vigilant security officer identified Oladele as Bello’s close associate, leading to a violent confrontation with the public before he was handed over to Amotekun. Both suspects have admitted to their involvement in the crime, shedding light on the horrific activities they engaged in for a meager payment.
