Three suspects arrested by detectives in Osun State Police Command for the murder of a 53-year-old widow, Aishat Yekeen, and dismemberment of her body for the purpose of performing ritual to get wealth, have opened up on the roles each of them played in committing the act before they were arrested.
The suspects, Muyideen Tunji Nafiu, aged 43; Yusuf Muslim, aged 44 and Rabiu Fatai, 51, had allegedly killed Aishat, dismembered and burned her body for money ritual after one of them lured her to Muyudeen’s house on the pretext that Muslim desired to have a love relationship with her.
Briefing journalists on Wednesday, the state Commissioner of Police, Olawale Olokode, said detectives from the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of the command began investigation after a report by the son of the deceased on March 28, that his mother had not been seen since March 8, and all efforts to trace her had proved abortive.
“A team of police detectives immediately swung into action by visiting the house of the victim at Ile Ogbo in Ayedire Local Government Area and gathered some information available. The detectives worked on the information available to them and extended their investigation to Lalupon in Oyo State, where the first suspect, Muyideen Tunji Nafiu, was arrested on the 5th of April, 2022.”
Speaking further, CP Olokode said: “He confessed to have conspired with one Yusuf Muslim and killed the woman for ritual in his house at Ile Ogbo. He stated that they severed the deceased’s head, hands, legs and heart before they buried the remaining part in a nearby bush at Ile Ogbo.
“Yusuf Muslim was arrested in his house at Agoro Road, Iwo town, while Rabiu Fatai, alias Orela, the receiver of some of the body parts, was also arrested.
“Meanwhile, the remains of the deceased have been exhumed and autopsy was conducted by a government pathologist. The suspects will be charged to court upon completion of investigation.”
It was learnt that the matter was initially reported to the Amotekun Corps but was taken over by the detectives when they received the report.
The suspects, while speaking with Journalists at the police command headquarters in Osogbo, told their roles in the murder.
Muyideen Tunji Nafiu: “I’m 43 years old. I’m a father of six children. Their mother and I are separated but the children are living with me. I’m a commercial motorcycle (Okada) rider and also a Quran teacher (Alfa). I introduced Aishat Yekeen to Alfa Muslim to date but it ended in her being killed, with her head, hands and legs cut for ritual.
“Alfa Muslim and I have been friends for four years. About four months ago, he advised me to stop riding okada for survival and told me to seek some other means of making a living. He advised me to get human hands for money ritual. He added that I should also look for a white duck and a gorilla’s hand.
“I thought he only wanted to date the woman when he gave me a ride, in March this year, from Iwo town where he is domiciled to my house in Ile Ogbo and sighted her. I had once dated the woman myself. She was a widow and was dating men to make ends meet. But I didn’t tell Muslim of my past affair with her.
“On the day they came together in my house to have intercourse, I left them inside. Few minutes after, I came back inside and met them naked, with both of them struggling and dragging with each other. The man was on top of her. I thought the woman was rejecting his sexual moves, so I held her legs. Muslim held her by the throat until she gave up. It was on March 8 at about 8pm. And that was the first mistake I made.
“We took her body to a bush and buried it in a shallow grave. On March 9, I went to his house and told him there was no problem about the woman’s killing. On March 10, Muslim called and told me he needed one of the woman’s hands. That was when I asked him if that was what he intended doing by killing her. He said I should not worry as it was part of the ritual process he told me about.
“We went back to the woman’s grave and cut her hand at the wrist. The Alfa also cut a piece of flesh from the remaining part of the hand. We went back to his house in Iwo and burnt the hand with other ingredients he had added. He also buried the piece of flesh he cut in his compound. After burning the hand to ashes, we shared it in two. I was told to consume it after mixing it with alcohol or milk. I had yet to take it when our atrocities were discovered.
“As I left Muslim’s house, I went to Kuta town to meet my mother’s kinsman, Rabiu Fatai. I told him all that had happened and he asked if nobody was aware of it. I answered that we were covered. That was how he followed me back to the grave and removed the woman’s head, heart, legs.
On March 12, he also started burning the parts he took with the remaining hand and I left before he finished because it was late.
“On March 13, I returned to him and met him playing draught. By then, officers of Amotekun Corps had started looking for me. The family of the woman had reported her missing, and the Amotekun Corps officials were picking all men known to have had affairs with her. They arrested about 13 people. Because I didn’t want to be among those arrested, I stopped sleeping at home. I was sleeping in a family house.
“I collected my kinsman’s motorcycle because there was no fuel in mine. After buying fuel into my motorcycle, I took it to him and escaped from my town with his own bike.
“At first, I went to Osuntedo, then to Iwo town. While there, I learnt that some people were being arrested too in connection with the killing. I decided to sell my kinsman’s motorcycle and used the proceeds to rent a room at Lalupon in Oyo State. To my surprise, police operatives from Anti-Kidnapping Section in Osun State came there to arrest me. I had just spent about three weeks at Lalupon. When I was arrested, I took the police to where we buried the woman.”
But Muslim denied going to Muyideen’s house, saying that he (Muyideen) was the one who brought the severed hand to him in Iwo. Muslim, who claimed to be an Islamic scholar and a farmer, said: “Muyideen brought the hand to me, saying that he wanted it used for money ritual. Before then, he had been telling me that he wanted money ritual so as to be rich. I told him to get gorilla’s hand. We met again and he told me he was about getting what I said would be needed. I didn’t know he wanted to kill someone.
“On the day he brought the hand, I added other ritual ingredients such as honeycomb, alligator pepper, chameleon and Nigerian currency in N1,000, N500 and N200 notes, after which we burnt them with the human hand. He gave me some of it and took the rest away.
“I didn’t befriend the victim. Muyideen is just trying to rope me in. It’s just like a dream the story he has been telling about my involvement.”
Credible sources told Saturday Tribune that before they were arrested, Muyideen and Muslim had sworn to an oath not to reveal their secret act. The sources said grave consequences awaited if the secret was exposed. The fear of breaking the oath had made Muslim to deny his relationship with the deceased and also denied going to Muyideen’s house to kill her, the sources contended.
The third suspect, Fatai, said: “I’m a farmer, palm oil trader and a native doctor. On March 9, I was about going to my oil mill when I received a call from Muyideen. He said he was waiting in my home and that I should come. Before then, his brother, Kazeem, had also called me to announce that Muyideen brought two hands to him and that he told him he was not interested in them.
“As I got home, I saw a carton and asked what was in it. Muyideen said it was human head and other parts. I told him that I was not used to such ritual, and I asked him to take them away. I went to the oil mill. When I returned home at about 4pm, I met him burning the body parts. I joined him and we finished everything together. He gave me part of it and went away with the rest. We burnt the head, heart and legs. He did not bring the hand to me. Two days after, he told me that the issue had boomeranged. He came to stay with me and started helping at the oil mill. On March 17, he rode his bike to my place and took mine away. It was after his departure that I was arrested.”
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