A 31-year-old suspect, Yusuf Adenoyin, was apprehended in Isua Akoko, in the Akoko South-East local government area of Ondo State, with eight human skulls.
Adenoyin explained that economic hardship led him to abandon his palm oil business for the more lucrative trade of selling human skulls.
Adenoyin, who was detained by the Nigeria Police, Ondo State command on Monday, confessed that he turned to this illegal trade to raise N2 million for his mother’s hospital treatment.
During his parade at the State Police headquarters, he detailed how he was introduced to the trade by an herbalist he met on social media.
Traveling to Osogbo, Osun State, with the skulls, Adenoyin revealed that his supplier remains at large. He buys the skulls, sourced from graveyards, for N20,000 each and sells them in Osun State for N30,000 to N35,000.
The skulls found in his possession were dry, some with fresh flesh, which he claimed was a dog’s heart.
Ondo State Police Commissioner, Abayomi Oladipupo, reported that Adenoyin was arrested by officers at the Isua/Epinmi checkpoint.
He attempted to flee when the commercial vehicle he was in was stopped, but he was quickly caught. A search of his baggage revealed the eight skulls wrapped in polythene and concealed in a sack of garri.
Adenoyin admitted that this was the third set of skulls he had supplied. Commissioner Oladipupo assured that Adenoyin would be arraigned after the investigation is completed.
“While the vehicle was being searched, one of the passengers took to his heels and the police pursued and arrested him. He was searched and eight dry human skulls, fresh human fl£sh, and charms were found in a wrapped polythene bag concealed in a garri sack he was travelling with,” the statement reads.