A syndicate alleged to specialise in the sale of body parts of day-old babies by conspiring with nurses in hospitals has been smashed by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command. The nurses are believed to cause the death of the babies shortly after they are born, after which they sell the bodies to a syndicate consisting of ritual killers and native doctors.
Rilwan Saula (39) was arrested along with five other suspects, namely Bolaji Fagbemi (38), a trado-medical nurse in training; Lasisi Olayinka (40), also a nurse in the same hospital as Olayinka; Alhaji Surajudeen Faronbi (55), who claimed to be a native doctor; Taofeek Abidakun (41), another native doctor who claims to buy human parts to prepare his medicine and Akindele Majiyagbe (50), who insisted that the parts found with him were those of a bird and not a human being.
A police source told our reporter: “On the 18th of June this year, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umar Abubakar Manko, got information that some criminals comprising a native doctor and two nurses at a certain hospital in Alagbado, Lagos had murdered a day-old baby and were about to use the body for money making rituals.
“As a result, CP Manko directed the officer in charge of SARS, Abba Kyari, a Superintendent of Police (SP), to act immediately. Hence, operatives led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Ade Adetarami were deployed there to play along with the criminals, which led to the arrest of a native doctor named Alhaji Sikiru. Also arrested were Bolaji Fagbemi and Lasisi Olayinka, while the corpse of the day-old baby girl was found with one Saula Rilwan, a trado-medical nurse. The suspect confessed to the offence and took SARS detectives to the affected hospital.”
The police source said that Saula further stated that a nurse in the said hospital, named Bolaji Fagbemi, sold the baby to him for money making ritual and claimed that it was with the knowledge of the management of the hospital.
The confessions of Saula was said to have led to the arrest of other suspects, namely Alhaji Surajudeen Faronbi, who was allegedly arrested with two human heads, Taofeek Abidakun, who was said to have been arrested with one human head and one Akindele Majiyagbe.
The source further revealed that further investigation was still being conducted into the matter while others who were still at large, especially those that are based in Abule Egba, Ahmadiyya, Ijaiye Ojokoro and Sango areas, were being hunted by the police.
The police source said the corpse of the day-old baby was being kept in the mortuary along with other human parts that were found with the suspects, saying that they would be helpful in the prosecution of the suspects.
In his confession, Saula, one of the suspects, said: “I am a 39-year-old native of Yewa, Ogun State. But I reside at Church Street, Ijaiye Ojokoro, Alimosho Local Government Area. I have three children.
“I sell herbs at Agege Main Market. In 2005, police arrested us and I left the market and became an alfa. I cure stroke and any illness that orthodox medicine cannot cure.
“I started selling human parts at the time I was selling herbs. At that time, two boys came to me to learn work, but I did not accept them. The two boys came last month and said they needed human parts. They said they had gone to a native doctor but they needed two heads for the medicine to work. They gave me N20,000, but I did not do it.
“Bolaji, my customer, who works as a nurse in the hospital, called me and said that she had the body of a baby who had just died. I asked her where the mother was and she said the mother had given it to her to throw away. She said the baby was only 24 hours old.”
On her part, Bolaji, a native of Ikire, Osun State, said: “I am a nurse. I gave him (Saula) the baby. I was given the baby by the mother to throw away. I am married with four children.”
Asked why the baby in question died, Bolaji said: “I am a trainee nurse and I am not on salary. I am learning traditional nursing. Pregnant women give birth in the hospital. The baby was an imbecile and was sick. She was not normal.
“The baby did not even cry when she was born. I did not collect money from him (Saula). The parents of the baby are Muslims and Saula is also a Muslim. Therefore I gave the dead baby to him to go and bury because the way Muslims do their burial is different from the way Christians do theirs.
The third suspect, Yinka, said: “I am a trado-medical nurse in the hospital. I am nine years in trado-medicine practice. I am from Ijebu Ode, Ogun State. I am the nurse that took delivery of the baby.
“The baby died within 24 hours of delivery. I called the father on the phone and he told me that he was not around. He said I could call any member of the family. When the family member I called came, I told him that the baby was dead. He said he did not know the cemetery where he would bury the child.
“I called Nurse Bolaji to know whether she knew a cemetery where the baby could be buried and she said she would help to throw away the dead child. He gave her N500 for transport.
“When the director of our hospital came, he asked me why I did that without consulting him. He later asked me to give the body of the baby to the sister of the mother in his presence. The director then told Bola to help them throw the dead baby away since she claimed to know the dustbin where the child could be thrown into.
“The baby had come out alive, but she had three toes. I told the mother the position of her baby and also called the husband to come and see the baby’s fingers. I told the husband to come and take the child to a better hospital. Water and blood were coming out of the child’s nose and mouth, but the father said I should leave it to God.”
The fourth suspect, Taofeek, said: “I am a native doctor. I have never bought human parts. I am from Igbese in Ogun State, married with five children. I am a spiritualist with two wives. I practice in Ogun State.
“I sold igun (vulture) parts, not human parts.”
The fifth suspect, Majiyagbe, said: “I am 50 years old. I am just a bricklayer. I am married with three children. I gave Saula N18,000 to buy a live partridge to do a job for me. But when he was arrested, he mentioned me as one of his customers because he had been threatening to kill me.
The sixth suspect, Faronbi, said: “I am 53. I am from Abeokuta, Ogun State. I am a traditional doctor. I cure long-term wounds and madness. I inherited the job. Any human bone bought from the market can be used to prepare powerful drugs that can cure difficult illnesses.
“I bought pieces of heads two times from Saula. The first time I paid N4,000 and the second one was N4,500. The total money I gave him was N8,500. I have been buying pieces of human heads to make traditional medicine.
“I have never bought the full head of a human being. I buy the eyes, ears, noses, tongues and necks. They are very cheap.”
