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| Jimoh |
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| Oyewole |
Wasiu Bakare never imagined
that the slight sickness that took his wife, Bakare Monsurat to the Federal
Medical Centre, Idi-aba, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital would claimed her
life.
He was optimistic for a happy
reunion with the wife in a matter of days, especially given the sign that her
condition was improving by the day.
But this never was! Monsurat,
on October 23, 2009, shattered the hope when she breathed her last.
The shocking news of her death
was too overwhelming for Bakare to bear even two years after the tragedy. When
he was gradually picking himself up and facing the onerous task of meeting
another responsible wife, one Mattew Akiode brought another round of sorrow to
him and his children.
Akiode, in the most callous
manner, went to the burial site of Bakare’s late wife, dug the grave and
severed the head. He claimed that he was contracted by one Micheal Oyewole, an
Abeokuta-based Pastor of a white garment church to supply the human skull.
Bakare nearly died when he was
alerted of the odd incident which had attracted the residents of Orelope
village, Sabo where he has a developing property on which he buried the wife.
The 45-year-old told the
Nigerian Compass that, “It sounded like I was not the person concerned. This is
because I never thought that such a thing could happened to anybody I know, let
alone to me.
“I did not know that what I
read in the newspapers about these heartless people is true until this happened
to me.”
Bakare said until the
incident, he had no reason to doubt the character of Akiode whom he could
easily vouch for as hardworking young man.
This was the image with which
many people in Sabo area and even beyond
also knew Akiode for.
Indeed, people in the area
used to regularly contracted him to do one job or the other for them,
particularly when he was off of his bricklaying vocation.
He further said: “I asked him
to clear my site which was over ran with weed. I had earlier tried it myself
but found it too difficult a task to tackle. Thus I asked Akiode on August 28,
2012, with a belief that he would in no time cleared the bush, to carry out the
clearing for me. I paid him N2000 to do the job.”
Bakare added: “The N2000 meant
so much to Akiode, considering that he was passing through a difficult time.
The job brought the much needed relief to him and he quickly went to the site
with his tools.”
While he was busy with cutting
the plants, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind, reminding him another
contract Oyewole had earlier gave him, which, according to him, he declined
because of the danger associated with it.
His fear, however, evaporated
as he remembered that a sum of N6000 awaited him if he could do Oyewole’s
bidding. He made up his mind and made a beeline for the grave of his
principal’s wife.
Akiode recalled:“I did not
spend much time to dig and removed the skull I needed. I quickly kept it inside
a black nylon I found in the bush. Then I made attempt to call Pastor to tell
him that I had got what he had asked me to get to in order to get paid N6000.”
To Akiode, the act was a fait
accompli. However, one man was some metres away on an elevated platform
watching him with disbelief.
The man identified as Olalekan
Azeez, was trimming fronds on palm tree in an adjoining compound.
The fear-stricken Azeez who
saw him while digging the grave, could not shout but found his way down and
thought of what to do.
He thought that a man who
could open a grave, could as well crush any obstacle on his way.
This thought sent jitters down his spin, yet Azeez was
determined to expose Akiode.
Not long afterwards, a group
of men emerged on their way from their union gathering held in the area.
Azeez
ran to them and quickly narrated to them what he saw. The men could
hardly believed what they heard.
They rushed to the scene, but
Akiode was smart enough to have refilled the grave and covered it with grass to
give a false appearance.
“At first, I was confused
because the whole thing did not appear as if he was the one I saw. There was no
trace of having dug the grave. But suddenly I came to my sense and insisted
that we should search everywhere,” narrated Azeez. “We removed the grasses from
the grave surface and saw a fresh earth.
“This reassured me. Other
people were also searching the surrounding while two of them held Akiode. After
some efforts, we saw the black nylon inside which the skull was kept and we
shouted at him. That was how we caught him and alerted other neighbours of the
area.”
Akiode instantly lost his
earlier confidence and confessed to the commission of the crime. While he was
frantically pleading for mercy, the people headed for the Ilupeju Divisional
Police Headquarters.
Akiode became a celebrity of
sorts at the Division as everyone who heard his alleged crime rushed to catch a
glimpse of a man who desecrated another person’s tomb.
The Division Police Officer
did not waste much time before Akiode was transferred to the Homicide section
at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Eleweeran, Abeokuta.
It was during interrogation
that he confessed to the crime and named Oyewole as the brain behind his
sacrilegious act.
“The Pastor also used to give
me jobs to do like other people. One day as I was doing a job for him, he said
for how long would I do the menial job to make a good money. He said if I could
get him human skull, I would make something better than what I was earning from
the menial job I was doing. I was scared when I heard this.
“I was scared because I did
not expect such a thing from a man of God. I did not give him an answer on that
day. I just laughed and continued with my work. When the thought came to me
again on the day I was broke, I said to myself that I would do it if I see any
grave in any part of my area.
“I said to myself that doing
this was better than taking gun to kill,” Akiode said.
Policemen who were familiar
with Oyewole’s name first, cast a doubt on the allegation but further details,
especially on the telephone conversation between him and Akiode after the act
diffused the doubt.
A team of policemen stormed
the town in search of Oyewole. The effort paid off as he was brought to
Eleweeran.
Oyewole denied the allegation
Akiode heaped on him. Although he admitted a relationship with Akiode, as he
had earlier stated, he took an exemption to the role Akiode alleged he played
in asking him to hunt for human skull.
Oyewole said: “I would not know why this man
is making this allegations against me. I don’t know the wrong I had done him to
punish me with this allegation. I am a man of God! In the service of God! I am
satisfied with what God has done for me so far. Why should I involve myself in
this type of dirty thing? I know my God is up there, watching all over what is
hidden to man,” he said.
Oyewole’s claims of innocence could not bail
him out of the mess as he was detained and charged to the Magistrate Court 1 at
Isabo on September 5, 2012. Both Oyewole and Akiode were charged for Conspiracy
and Unlawful possession of human skull.
The case was adjourned to
October 10, 2012 after which it suffered a further adjournment till November
21, 2012.
The spokesman of Ogun State
Police Command, Muyiwa Adejobi, an Assistant Superintendent of Police,
confirmed the on-going prosecution of the suspects, but declined further
comment on the matter.
Adejobi, however, commended
the effort of the investigating team which handled the matter to its conclusive
end, thereby necessitating the prosecution devoid of delay.
He said it took the
meticulousness of his men to establish a strong link between the suspects to
the crime.
“From our end here, we have
done what was expected of us in a matter like this and we do hope that the
Court also will do justice to the matter when it finally rules,” the PPRO said
in his office.
While Akiode and Oyewole are
battling with sleepless nights over the likely punishment awaiting them in the
court, one Olorunwa Jimoh is also in trouble for a similar offence.
Like Akiode, Jimoh also
confessed that his business albeit illegitimate, was to search for graveyards
from which he exhumes corpses in Ago-Iwoye.
It was gathered that one
Otunba Adekoya, a resident of Adekoya Street in the town, caught him in the act
on September 17, 2012, after which he raised the alarm, culminating in his
arrest and detention at the Ago-Iwoye Divisional Police Headquarters.
The unusual confidence which
Jimoh exuded in the presence of policemen painted a picture of an unrepentant
man. He even justified his act as a means to survive what he called the hard
time.
“What everybody is looking
for, is what to do to get food and eat! This is my own means of making money to
feed myself. Abore is the one who buys any part I take to him,” he said.
The Police have since
commenced a search for Abore who is said to have fled Ago-Iwoye soon after the
news of Jimoh’s arrest broke.
The Police, however, have
decided to keep a sealed lip on the update of the search.
“We cannot tell you how far we
have gone so that it won’t affect our job. But I can assure you that he would
be fished out to confirm or deny the allegation,” boasted Adejobi.
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