23-year-old cultist arrested for dropping human head on the road

The police in Lagos State have arrested a 23-year-old suspected cultist, Idris Adebayo, who confessed to have dropped the head of a rival cult member on the Old Apapa Road, in the Oyingbo area of the state.

Adebayo, who said he put the head in a polythene bag, added that the victim was killed by his gang members and the head dumped by the roadside because he came to visit his girlfriend in their territory.

Punch Metro had reported on October 15, 2015, that some hoodlums at the Olokodana Junction of the road dropped a severed head.

The Iponri Police Division, where the matter was reported, was said to have removed the head and taken it to a morgue.

The then Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Joe Offor, had told our correspondent that the police had launched a manhunt for the killers.

On Thursday, Adebayo and Gafar Ayoola were both arrested by the Denton Police Division in the Otto area as two of the suspected killers.

It was gathered that Ayoola, during interrogation, developed a health condition and was rushed to a private hospital where he later died.

It was reported on Monday that his family members had, however, alleged that he was tortured to death by a policeman at the station.

Adebayo had been transferred to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja, where further investigation was ongoing on the matter.

Adebayo said his gang leader, identified as Dagbe, had killed the rival member and they dumped his body in a stream on San Siro Street, Otto.

Adebayo added that the head of the deceased was handed over to him in a polythene bag to dispose of.

He said, "We were four that killed the man. Dagbe, Aloma, Kashir and I ambushed him and cut off his head. His offence was that he came to our territory to visit his girlfriend. We thought he had come to spy on us.

"Dagbe gave the rival member's head to me to dump at where people would see him. Two persons and I took a tricycle and when we got to Olokodana, I dropped the head from the polythene bag. The victim's body had already been dumped in a stream.

"I know Gafar (Ayoola) very well. He was one of our gang members. He and Aloma used to walk together. He was in the same gang with Dagbe. I was arrested on Saturday."

A resident of Old Apapa Road, who gave his name only as Baba Toheeb, said the police should flush out all the criminal elements in the area.

He said, "Idris (Adebayo) and Gafar (Ayoola) are members of a gang known as Omo oniyan. There was a time a mob caught them and handed them over to the police at the Iponri division. They were tried and sent to court. Gafar just finished serving a jail term last year.

"We want the police to intensify security in our area. The Denton division is trying, but we want them to do more."

The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the arrest.

She said, "The boy has confessed that his gang members cut off their victim's head. Effort is on to arrest other members of the gang."