OMOIYAKUNMI: Man Caught Exhuming Body Burnt to Death in Sabo, Oyo

The face of the suspect

The peaceful community of Elegbo area, Baale Agbe road, Sabo in Oyo town was thrown into panic on Tuesday, 27th December, 2016 when a man was allegedly caught after exhuming and mutilating a body at the Muslim Cemetery located within the community.

According to some accounts, the man who seemed to have been known for this notorious act in the town was caught in the act when some group of mourners who went to the cemetery to buried their own body observed a strong stench of decomposing body.

One of them decided to satisfy his curiosity by looking around to detect the source of the foul odour when he saw some parts of human body and a man hiding under a banana tree.

The man with the mutilated parts of human body

This curious mourner immediately raised alarm and held the suspect. The other mourners were alerted and they joined to raise the alarm which, of course, alerted some members of the community who mobilized and ran to the cemetery.

Not only was the sight disgusting to some eyewitnesses, it also got people emotional as the sight of a human body already mutilated brought tears to some people's faces.

The obviously angry community members apprehended this guy and he was questioned. From the video piece made available to me, he confessed to be a Ph.d holder and a lecturer who was finding it difficult to succeed.

He said he was introduced to the man who asked him to bring human parts by one 'Monsuru' and that he would be getting 10 million naira every three days.

Some reports said this man swallowed his sim card immediately he was caught to prevent the mob from discovering who his colleagues and associates were.

The mob, believing if that releasing the man to the police would only mark the end of the case, took the laws into their hands.

They resulted to jungle justice and lynched the suspect. Not only was he lynched, he was burnt to death.

As at the time of my visit to the cemetery, the body was still lying in front of the cemetery gate.

During this investigation, I met the Divisional Police Officer of the Atiba Division, SP Sadiq who gave us the police version of the story.

According to the DPO, the police were informed about the incident when the man was caught and two police officers (a male and a female) were dispatched to avert crisis and bring in the suspect.

On getting to the scene, the angry mob put up resistance and didn't allow the police to arrest the suspect. In fact, they attempted to stone the officers and the officers had no choice but to run away from the scene.

According to a report, this suspect has been in the business of mutilating and selling human parts for years. He had been caught once, handed over to the police but he was released afterwards.

This could have been one of the reasons why the community members decided to take laws into their hands.

The DPO also confirmed that the man had once been arrested around 2009 or so and that he had the habit of hiding under the pretext of insanity.

The DPO said the officers who went to the scene were able to get his phone but the sim was missing. He said they have gotten some few contacts from the phone and that efforts were underway to locate the man's relatives and his business associates.

As at Saturday, 31st December, 2016, the dead and decomposing body of the man was removed from the scene by the combined efforts of the Atiba police and the Health department of the Local government.

What still bothers me is;

1. Why would a cemetery be without any security guard?

2. Was the jungle justice melted out to the suspect the best way to handle the situation?

3. How sure are we that the police will keep on investigating this matter to locate the sort of business they do with human parts and the man's business associates?

4. Was there actually a 'Monsuru' and who could the 'Monsuru' have been?

See more pics of the suspect;