We earn N5,000 for each human head — Suspected grave robbers

Two suspects, Mustapha Bello and Damilare Oladele, were arrested by personnel of the Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN), codenamed Amotekun, for possessing a human head exhumed from a grave in the Amuloko area of Ibadan, Oyo State, have confessed to the crime.

The suspects confessed that they received N5,000 for each human head they retrieved.

Bello, a 32-year-old carpenter, revealed that he and Oladele were involved in exhuming the head from a grave.

He explained that they were approached by a man named Saheed, who introduced them to the work.

“He promised to give me some money the next day. When we arrived at the site around 1 a.m., Saheed told me we were there to retrieve a human head,” Bello said.

After completing the task, Saheed sold the head and paid Bello his share.

Bello was apprehended by a local night guard on Monday while carrying the severed head in a bag.

His accomplice, Oladele, managed to escape but was later arrested after a law enforcement agent linked him to the crime.

Oladele, a 25-year-old barber, admitted to participating in the grave robbing, saying that Bello had invited him to assist in watching for security while Bello dug up the grave.

Oladele explained that after retrieving the head, they would hide until dawn before heading home.

He confessed that he had participated in five similar operations.

“We used to get to the area where we would get the human head at night at about 10 pm. We would hide in a place till after midnight when we would begin the exhumation at about 1 am,” Oladele said in a Tribune report.

“After the head had been removed, Mustapha would call me to cover the grave while he would go and hide the head. We would retire to our hiding spot and wait till dawn before we would go home.

“He was the one who would take the head to the buyer. After he had been paid, he would give me N5,000 as my share, except once when he gave me N10,000 because we went for a fresh head. I have worked with him five times.

“We did the last one at Amuloko in Ona Ara Local Government Area in the early hours of Monday. The place was described to Mustapha by one Afaa. They discussed it on the phone. The Afaa said that the corpse was recently buried.

“We went to work, removed the head and went to sleep in a nearby school until 5 am when we left. Unfortunately for us, we met a night guard who sought to know what Mustapha was carrying. As they were dragging the issue with each other, I quickly took to my heels.

“I went to my shop and returned to where I live in the evening to find out how things went with Mustapha. It was the person he used to give the head for sale who came to me. His name is Saheed. Saheed is a native doctor, and he was the one who introduced the operation to Mustapha. He stopped doing it and was only collecting the severed heads from Mustapha and paying him for the job done. That was why Mustapha asked me to join him in doing the work.

“He was the one who informed me that Mustapha had been handed over to Amotekun. He said he would be using his phone to monitor things.

“I was on my way back to my shop when I was seen by a security personnel. I learnt that the crowd recorded Mustapha’s arrest on video and posted it. The post was seen by the security agent and on seeing me, knowing very well that I was a close friend of Mustapha, he called me to come and take a look. He said that he believed I worked together with my friend. That was how the people around started beating me. I was handed over to Amotekun.”

The suspects have been handed over to Amotekun for further investigation.