By Chioma Okezie-Okeh
This is a heartbreaking story of 39-year-old man, Muyiwa Adekunle. He was reportedly butchered on November 10, 2022 by his friend, Idowu Abel. His body parts were subsequently sold to an alleged herbalist for the sum of N200,000 in Ogun State.
Idowu, who is an auxiliary nurse, and two other accomplices identified as Clement Adeniyi and a cleric, Felix Ajadi were later tracked down and arrested by operatives of Ogun State Police Command. They took the operatives to a farm in Ifako where what was left of his dissected body was buried.
On their arrest, the state police spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, a Superintendent of Police told Saturday Sun that the crack detectives from Owode Yewa police division, acted swiftly when Oluwaseyi Adekunle, the elder brother to the deceased, reported that his younger brother had been missing since November 10, 2022.
In the course of investigation, the police were able to establish that Idowu was the person who came to pick the deceased from the house on the day that he disappeared. Idowu was arrested and when it dawned on him that the game was up, he confessed to the police that he was contracted by an herbalist simply identified as Habeeb. The contract, which was worth N200,000, was to harvest the freshly severed head, heart, two legs and hands of a man.
The herbalist then contacted Clement, who owns a big farm in Ifako area of the state. They took the deceased to the farm where he was slaughtered and parts of his body dissected and given to Habeeb.
His confession led to the arrest of Clement Adeniyi and the cleric, Felix Ajadi, while the alleged herbalist is still at large.
The pick-up and execution
The alleged initiator of the act, Idowu, told Saturday Sun that he decided to use his friend, Muyiwa because the deceased was drunk. “I am from Ogun State and an auxiliary nurse with more than 20 years experience. I am not working at any particular hospital; the community knows me well and they always prefer my services to that of a doctor.
“I have known Muyiwa for so many years. In fact, he is my best friend and confidant. Unfortunately, he started taking too much alcohol to the point that he will end up inside a gutter unconscious. His wife and family members were always complaining about him.
“This was why I decided to use him when the man called Habeeb, the herbalist gave me a contract. I met him in the course of my job because some of the cases needed spiritual healing or herbs which he is an expert at. It was the cleric, Ajadi who introduced him to me,” he narrated.
On how the evil act was executed, Idowu stated that on November 10, he lured his friend, Muyiwa to a bar and made sure that the deceased was completely drunk. He said: “Surviving in Nigeria is very hard and I have children who are disturbing me for school fees and house rent. Habeeb called to inform me that he would pay N200,000 if I could arrange a human being, as his client wanted some human parts for rituals. He agreed to give me an advance fee of N80,000. I was in desperate need of money and I felt this was the way out. I cracked my brain on who to use till I saw Muyiwa drunk and staggering home. It was then that the evil idea to use him came to me. I knew that Muyiwa will be very easy to kill if he was drunk.
“I alerted my friend, Clement, and explained everything to him. I choose Clement because he has a big farm that we could use, and no one would hear his voice or see us. Luckily, he was also in need of money.
“On November 10, we visited the deceased’s house late in the evening and agreed to go and hang out as usual. As soon he was drunk and staggering, we bade his farewell so that the owner of the bar would assume that he left alone. It was very dark and we waited for him at a lonely path, which was his usual route. As soon as he got there, we grabbed him and walked together to the farm at Ifako area which was not far away from the bar. I used a machete to slice his throat while Clement who used to sell butchered cow dissected the body.
“He had to do it because of the heart which Habeeb said must be intact. Clement removed the heart, two hands and legs and his head. I called Habeeb and he met us at the farm where he collected those body parts. We agreed to go to his house and collect the remaining fee. We buried the remaining part of the body in the farm and left. They next day we went to Habeeb’s place and was told that he had relocated weeks ago.”
Police involvement
On how he was arrested, Idowu said it was the cleric that brought the police to his house. “It was the cleric that showed them my house. He was not part of the deal nor did he get any share from the N80,000 advance. Initially, I denied but when I got to the police station and saw the faces of these policemen, I had to confess immediately. I took them to Clement’s house and also showed them the shallow grave where we buried what was left of Muyiwa’s body. I am very sorry and I beg Muyiwa’s family to forgive me. It was the devil that possessed me.”
The second suspect, 50-year-old Clement, also hails from Ogun State. He claimed that his own role was to remove the body parts to meet up with the specification of the said Habeeb, the herbalist.
He said: “I am currently a farmer and I cultivate yam and cassava. In the past, I used to work in a slaughterhouse. That was how I knew how to butcher and dissect animals perfectly. Idowu is a nurse and he normally attends to me when I am sick. He brought up the idea of killing Muyiwa and I told him that we could use my farm. We lured him to the farm while he was drunk and killed him. It was Muyiwa that killed him before I was able to open his body and bring out his heart. The herbalist warned that nothing should cut the heart and I did it very well. We then buried the remaining body in the farm.
“I am sorry that we deceived Muyiwa. I was in need of cash. It is only during the harvesting period that we have money. It was the devil that bewitched us. Even Habeed ran away with our money.”
Feigning ignorance, the cleric, Ajadi, told Saturday Sun that he only heard about the alleged murder and sale of body parts at the police station. “I met Habeeb years ago when I had an accident and broke my bones. He was the one who used the herbs to cure me. I was able to walk again, so he became a friend and I started referring patients to him. I was the one who introduced Idowu to him. Muyiwa is also known in the area as a drunk. I have tried my best to encourage him to stop but he kept going back. Two months ago, Idowu, Muyiwa and one other person came to my house and we discussed. I have never seen them again till police came to arrest me.
“I have known Habeeb for years but I have never heard or suspected that he is a ritualist. I am a man of God. If I knew that he is a killer, I will never allow him to touch my body. I don’t know where he ran to as all his numbers are switched off. It was at the police station that I heard all these shocking news. I am still in shock because I could have been their target. I am a pastor and a responsible man. I pray that God will save me from this problem. God in heaven will bear me witness that I never knew that Habeeb is a ritualist,” he stated.