It is no longer news that people have been going to cemeteries to dig out corpses in order to sell to ritualists.
On Friday, March 21, 2025, two suspects were arrested by men of the Nigerian police in Oyo State over the exhumation of corpses, Punch reports.
Based on some intelligence, the police conducted a search in one of the suspects’ residences in the Muslim area of Ibadan.
Upon their search, they discovered human parts in bags and containers, of which the suspect confessed that he does often sell them to ritualists.
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He later led the police to the cemetery at Awa-Ijebu, Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State, where he exhumed the bodies, and to the ritualists he usually sells them to, who also confessed.
The Oyo State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Adewale Osifeso, confirmed this in a statement.
In his words, “During the search, a female human torso and other dismembered human remains, including severed limbs and dried bones, which were stored in bags and paint buckets, were recovered.
“In his confession, the suspect claimed to have exhumed the corpse from a cemetery in Awa-Ijebu, Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State, and admitted to selling the body parts to ritualists.
“The suspect led detectives to the cemetery, where his claim was verified, and further confession led to the arrest of the second suspect, a septuagenarian, who bought some human parts from him.
“He also admitted to his involvement in the illicit trade in human body parts.
“The case has been transferred to the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation Department for detailed investigation, as efforts are being intensified to identify and apprehend all those involved,” Osifeso said.
The Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Johnson Ademola, advised cemetery managers to be vigilante as the cases of corpse exhumation are on the rise.
Ademola also advised commercial transporters to always check what their passengers have in their bags so as not to implicate them in the process.
