The Osun State Police Command has arrested a man, Saheed Babalola, over the alleged exhumation and mutilation of the corpse of an 18-year-old girl in Feesu community, near Iwo, Osun State.
The suspect was reportedly apprehended by residents after they heard unusual noises coming from the burial site where the teenager had been laid to rest a day earlier.
The incident occurred on Monday at Olomo Compound, Feesu, where the deceased and the suspect reportedly lived.
According to reports, the teenager died under circumstances described as unnatural on Sunday and was buried within the compound later that day.
Babalola was said to have participated in the burial alongside other mourners before allegedly returning to the grave in the early hours of Monday with two other men.
The trio allegedly exhumed the corpse and severed the victim’s head and wrist before residents, alerted by strange sounds from the burial ground, went to investigate.
A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said community members managed to apprehend one of the suspects while the other two reportedly fled.
“Three people came to perpetrate the act, but we were able to apprehend one of them, and he was handed over to the police,” the resident said.
The apprehended suspect was subsequently handed over to the police for investigation into the alleged desecration of the corpse.
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Osun State Police Command, DSP Abiodun Ojelabi, said officers responded to the report and arrested Babalola.
Ojelabi explained that the suspect and the deceased lived at the same address in Olomo Compound, Feesu, Iwo.
He disclosed that operatives of the Iwo Police Division initially arrested the suspect before transferring him to the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for further investigation.
According to the police spokesperson, investigators recovered the victim’s severed head and hand from where they had allegedly been kept.
“We were able to recover the head and the hand. The investigation is still ongoing. The police are continuing efforts to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident and identify other individuals allegedly involved,” Ojelabi said.
The police said investigations were ongoing to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident and track down the two other suspects who allegedly escaped.
