Kwara: Brothers caught for alleged exhumation of nine graves, missing heads

The Kwara State Police Command has arrested two brothers and a suspected herbalist over the alleged exhumation of nine graves and the removal of the heads of the corpses.

The incident happened in Omupo, Ifelodun Local Government Area of the state.

The Commissioner of Police, Ojo Adekimi, disclosed this on Tuesday while briefing journalists during the parade of suspected criminals and ritualists at the police headquarters in Ilorin.

He said the case came to light in May 2026 when members of the community visited a cemetery to bury a deceased person and discovered that several graves had been dug up, with the heads of the bodies missing.

According to him, the suspects, identified as Abu Jimoh, Ayo Jimoh and Mukaila Bello, were arrested following an intelligence-led investigation.

Adekimi said the two brothers were arrested on October 8 at about 5am while allegedly digging another grave in the cemetery.

He said the brothers had confessed to the crime during interrogation and identified Bello, a suspected herbalist, as the person who bought the allegedly removed body parts.

The police commissioner, however, said the command had yet to recover the suspected human parts.

“We discovered that about nine graves had been exhumed without the heads of the bodies. The three of them have been arrested, but we are yet to recover the ones they allegedly cut off,” he said.

Adekimi added that the suspects were apprehended while allegedly attempting to dig up another grave.

He said one of the brothers is physically challenged.

However, one of the arrested brothers, Ayo, denied involvement in the alleged crime, claiming that they were pursuing a rat that had run into the cemetery when they were apprehended.

“It was my brother who was chasing a rat which ran into the cemetery. He scaled the low fence and went after it into the cemetery and started digging the grave. I was telling him to leave the place, but the mistake I made was that I went to meet him there,” he said.

Ayo, who said he was in his 50s and hailed from Ile Fayabale in Omupo, maintained that he was not involved in the alleged removal of human heads.

His brother, Abu, gave a similar account, claiming that they were on their way to the farm in the morning when they saw a rat run into the burial ground and disappear into a grave.

He said his elder brother called his attention to the animal but warned that pursuing it into the cemetery was dangerous if they were seen in such act.

Bello, who identified himself as a native doctor based in Ajase-Ipo, admitted knowing the two brothers but denied buying human parts from them.

He claimed that his dealings with the brothers were limited to buying wood from them and said he was unaware of any alleged involvement in the removal of human body parts.

The police said the suspects would be arraigned in court after the conclusion of investigations.