Human Parts Dealership: A Gory Business

Human Parts Dealership: A Gory Business

Saturday, May 10, 2014 12:09 pm


Human parts Dealers paraded on Monday

In a joint operation, the Ogun and Lagos police commands bust a ring of traffickers in fresh human heads and parts

CYRIACUS IZUEKWE

The police in Lagos last week paraded four suspects including a woman who made a stunning confession of buying and selling human parts just like any other business outlets of buying and selling of goods in Nigeria.

The suspects, Mrs. Sukuratu Salami, Alfa Waheed Ibrahim, 26; Rasheed Tantoloun, 55, and Mohammed Yusuf, 46, were arrested by the police on a tip-off in Joju area in Ogun State.

The operation was carried out by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Umar Manko, in collaboration with his Ogun State counterpart, who ordered the men of State Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, to go after the suspects.

The investigation paid off after days of surveillance when one of the suspects, Mrs. Salami, was arrested with human parts. She confessed and named her accomplices in the business. Making a confessional statement before journalists at the police headquarters in Ikeja, Lagos, where they were paraded, the 53-year-old Salami confessed that for the past 10 years, she had been buying and selling human parts to her numerous customers on demand.

She said she buys each fresh human head for N10,000 and sells to her customers for N20,000; while she buys other human parts and sells to her customers on demand. Other human parts recovered from them apart from human heads include intestines, flesh, bones, liver and kidney. Salami also revealed that each part has specific price and her customers in turn sell to their customers for ritual purpose.

She listed the prices as follow: Fresh human head, which she buys for N10,000, is sold for N20,000; intestines go for N2,000.000; human flesh is between N2,000 and N3,000, bones go for N500-N1000 among others. She also explained that the prices depend on the freshness of the parts.

Speaking to journalists, Salami said she sells herbal roots as camouflage at Joju area in Ado Odo Local Government in Ogun State and had numerous customers who are mainly native doctors and herbalists. She added that her main business was human parts, on which she made reasonable money.

On how she ventured into the business, Salami said she was lured when her customers were demanding human parts and other herbal roots, offering to pay handsomely for human parts. She said she started making inquiries, in the course of which she met the other suspects.

She said since most of her customers demand fresh human parts, her suppliers bring fresh ones for sale.

She said she did not know where the suspects got the parts and was made to believe that it was from Joju cemetery, where one of the suspects, Tantaloun, works as security guard.

Another suspect, Alfa Ibrahim, said he was introduced to the business four years ago but had stopped before his arrest. He said his main work was to dig graves in the cemetery and cut human head and other parts for onward supply to buyers.

He said he was usually paid N3,000 per head by Tantaloun, who usually had contact with buyers. Tantaloun admitted selling dead human parts. But he did not explain how they got the fresh parts which Salami claimed they supplied her.

Another suspect, Yusuf, confessed that he buys human parts which he sells to his numerous customers for ritual purposes. He said he buys from Mrs. Salami each fresh head for N20,000 and sells to his customers for N50,000. He however said he did not know where the parts were sourced.

CP Manko said he received information that a group of people residing in Joju area were dealing in human parts; and acting on the information he directed Abba Kyari to investigate and arrest the suspects.

Manko said after monitoring the faces behind the shameful act, one of the SARS dectectives posed as a prospective buyer and negotiated to buy one at N120,000, leading to the arrest of the suspects. Manko said after further nvestigation the matter would be charged to court.

Now is the time to rescue our daughters, says Kwankwaso

MADUABUCHI NMERIBEH/Kano

Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State has called on politicians and opinion leaders in the country to come speak with one voice in condemning the abduction of 234 girls from their hostels in a girls’ secondary school in Chibok, Borno State.

Kwankwaso spoke while receiving members of the civil society organisations who stormed Kano Government House in protest over the abducted girls by the Boko Haram insurgents.

“I believe this is the time to call on all of us to support Nigeria; this is the time to bury all our differences, especially those that are being created by politicians, to come and support this country. These young girls that were abducted are not only Muslims or only Christians. And this is the time for all of us also, to close ranks and ensure that these young girls are identified and returned to their parents and to the school.

“I am sure the message, especially in the last few days, is very clear to the leadership in Abuja (Presidency). Maybe they do not understand the gravity of the issue. People are beginning to understand the calamity that has befallen our country, Nigeria. It is our collective responsibility to check the trend, to stop it and ensure that every child of school age goes to school without any fear,” Kwankwaso stated.

“We are as concerned and as worried as you are, we feel very sad as parents, we feel as sad as members of the (Chibok) community and we feel very sad as leaders of this state and by extension leaders in the country” he added.

The governor stressed that it is the responsibility of any government, not only in this country but all over the world, to protect life and property, to ensure freedom of speech and freedom of movement, adding that his administration, on its part, would continue to guarantee citizens’ rights within its limit.

Governor Kwankwaso, who expressed grief over the unfortunate incident, told the civil society groups that their letter would be delivered to the President within 24 hours in view of the gravity of the matter.

In his remarks, A. B. Mahmoud, a senior advocate, said if Nigeria cannot handle the case of the abducted girls, it should seek assistance from other countries, pointing out that the abduction of 234 girl students is a national disaster. He expressed hope that the authorities concerned would be providing accurate information to Nigerians on the matter until the kidnapped girls are rescued.

In their respective speeches, the chairman of the forum, Malam Bala Abdullahi and a mother, Amina Hanga, a lawyer, said the case of the abducted girls is traumatic to their parents and other well-meaning Nigerians, appealing to the state governor, whom they described as a credible, fearless and honest leader, to ensure that the federal government takes appropriate action toward bringing the agony to an end.


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