"I have Only Sold 10 Bodies, Please Have Mercy On Me"-Ritualist Posing As Herb Seller In Sango, Ogun State Pleads(Photo)

The suspects

Last week when MDB did the exclusive on the ritualists lynched at Sango in Ogun state, we mentioned a woman, a herb seller at Joju Junction Sango Ota, said to have been caught with 3 fresh human heads but handed over to the police. If you missed that story please click HERE.

Some residents we spoke with complained that most of the criminals when handed to the police get released not long afterward, and gave the example of the herb seller. Now it appears there was a mix up some where as the police has recently paraded her along side other suspected ritualists.  

The 54-year-old mother identified as Sukuratu Salami, pleaded with the Special Anti-Robbery Squad to release her, insisting that she has sold only 10 human parts. Read the full report after the cut:


Salami, who was paraded with three others, Rasheed Tantoloun, Mohammed Yusuf and Waheed Ibrahim, was arrested in Joju area of Sango Ota.

They were arrested with one human head, intestine, bones, liver, kidney and other parts on April 12, 2014.

Narrating how she got into the business, Salami said:

“I have been into this business for just a year. I sell agbo (herb) for a living and I have three children, my first born is 30-years-old.
“Sometime last year, a herbalist approached me, saying he needed human parts. I needed the money, so I agreed. I approached Tantoloun who works at a graveyard.
“He sold skull for N10,000 and I sold it for N20,000. I also buy some bones at N200. The liver and intestines, I buy them at N1,000.
“I have never killed anyone before. I only buy dead bodies and I have sold only 10. The policemen that arrested me posed as buyers and I sold to them. It was the next day that I was arrested. Please, have mercy on me, I will never do it again.”

Another suspect, Tantoloun, who is a security guard at a cemetery in Ogun State, said he sold only decomposed bodies.

The indigene of Ibadan, Oyo State, told reporters that he hired another suspect, Ibrahim, to exhume the bodies.

He said:

 “Alfa (Waheed) is the one that digs graves. My employer told me that whenever we see a completely rotten corpse, we can exhume it and bury another corpse there.

“So, anytime, we exhume corpses, we give it to the agbo woman (Salami) and she buys skulls at N8,000. It made life easy for me since my salary is just N5,000.”

Another suspect, Ibrahim, who is an Arabic teacher, said he received N3,000 for each body part.
He said he sold old corpses.
He said:

 “There are some corpses that were not buried in a coffin and after they were buried, their families never came to visit, those are the types I go after.
“I sell corpses that are four years and older. I also dismember corpses and sell them in parts. I get just N3,000 and the money is a second source of income after teaching Arabic.”

The Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, said detectives led by the SARS commander, Abba Kyari, posed as buyers and bought a human head from the suspects at N120,000.

He said after arresting the suspects, Salami’s house was searched where a human head, liver, intestine and other parts were found.

He said:
“We picked interest in this case because of the disappearances of people. With their arrest, we hope that we will end these disappearances.
“We discovered that most of these bodies are fresh. It is criminal to deal in human parts. A few weeks back, Soka Forest was discovered in Ibadan. As you can see, this crime happens all over.”
Source