80-year-old, 5 others beheaded man, ate his body in Ekiti —Police

Eighty-year-old Tijani Arowolo has been arrested by the police in Ekiti State along with five others for allegedly killing one Sola Adeniyi for money-making rituals.

The octogenarian was arrested along with Oniyelu Olu, 63; Dolamu Olaide, 28; Folorunsho Oluwatoba, 60; Peter Ajayi, 73 and John Ojo, 77 for killing Adeniyi at Orisumbare settlement in Oye Local Government Area of the state on February 7.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Abdullahi Chafe, who paraded the suspects at the command’s headquarters in Ado Ekiti, on Thursday, said they beheaded their victim, chopped off his hands, grilled and ate them “to get money.”

Chafe said that all the suspects had confessed to the murder, adding that two other suspects in the crime, who allegedly participated in the murder, were still at large.

The police commissioner, who applauded the people of the community for volunteering information, said: “The gun used in the murder has been recovered. The suspects will be charged to court as soon as investigation is completed.”

The elderly Tijani, when asked by newsmen his level of involvement in the alleged crime, said Oniyelu was the head of the syndicate, claiming that he (Tijani) had only always assisted people to become wealthy.

Tijani admitted that he was the one that severed the head of the victim which was later roasted to perform the ritual.

The youngest among the suspects, Dolamu Olaide, who claimed that he was a barber in Ibadan but later moved to Oye-Ekiti, had earlier shot the victim dead.

He claimed that he was lured into ritual killing by the elderly men and alleged that they had sworn to an oath which he said made it difficult for him to pull out.

The police had explained that the alleged murderers had used the opportunity of a crisis in Orisumbare settlement, which ownership is in dispute between Itaji and Ayede communities, to perpetrate the crime.