A mother of three was among the four people arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja, Lagos State for selling of fresh human parts.
The woman, Sukuratu Salami, 53, said that she buys each fresh human head for N10,000 and sells them for N20,000.
Human eye balls were sold for N5,000 and intestines for N1,000.
The woman confessed to have sold at least 10 human heads.
According to Salami, she sells herbs, but decided to go into selling of human parts because she discovered there were high demands for human heads by some men she described as “native doctors”.
Other suspects arrested with Salami are Rasheed Abimbola Tantoloun, Mohammed Yusuf and Waheed Ibrahim.
The suspects denied killing anybody to get the parts, adding that the parts were gotten from a cemetery located at the Joju area of Ota, Ado-Ado Local Government Area, Ogun State.
Tantoloun is the security guard of the cemetery, Ibrahim is the digger who digs out the human parts, while Ibrahim is one of the native doctors who used to buy from Salami.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, explained that the suspects were arrested after the command received a tip-off about their illicit trade and drafted SARS detectives to the area.
Manko said: “We picked interest in this case because of the disappearance of people.
“It is hopeful that with the arrest of these suspects, we’ll be able to get to the root of these disappearances.
“Most of the parts recovered are fresh.
“It’s criminal to deal in human parts.
“A few weeks ago, there was the discovery of Soka forest in Oyo State.
“Crime has no boundary.”
The police boss revealed how the suspects were arrested: “After intense monitoring of the faces behind the shameful act, on April, 12, 2014, one of the SARS detectives posed as a prospective buyer and negotiated to buy one at the rate of N20,000. Immediately after the operative gained access to the abode of the seller, one Sukuratu Salami confirmed the existence of human parts in her house. The Officer in Charge of SARS, Abba Kyarri, led decoy teams to storm the house and arrest Salami, followed by Tantoloun. A thorough search conducted in the house of Salami led to the discovery of human heads, intestines, Liver, Kidney, flesh and bones.”
According to Salami, she sells herbs, but disturbances from native doctors, demanding for human heads, convinced her to go into the business.
She said: “Those who used to bring the heads to me, bring them from burial ground. I buy for N10,000 and sell for N20,000. People used to ask for broken pieces of human heads, I sell those ones for N200. Intestines are also not expensive. I sell those for N1,000. When they bring the human parts fresh, we dry them if there was need. I have sold 10 heads.”
Salami, whose eldest child is 30 years, said that her husband, who works with one of the top media houses in Lagos State, ran away and abandoned her after her arrest.
Tantaloun said: “On the day Waheed went to dig the head that got us into trouble, I was not on duty. My salary as a guard at the cemetery is N8,000, but my boss told me that I should be able to making money from the cemetery. My boss knows that the cemetery is full. He told me that we should dig and empty those with bodies that had decomposed. The woman who sells herb had earlier come to me, to tell me that I should be selling human parts to her.”
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