Police arrest mortuary attendant for selling human skull to herbalist in Lagos

A mortuary attendant, Seun Falana, has been arrested for allegedly exhuming a corpse from where it was buried  and severing the skull at the Trinity Cemetery, Ajegunle,  in Lagos State, which was sold to a herbalist, Olawale Shodolamu, for N10,000.

It was gathered that the duo of Falana and Shodolamu met their waterloo when one Dauda Tijani, whom the herbalist had sent to pick up the skull from the mortuary attendant, was accosted by policemen, who were on stop and search around the Alakija bus stop on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, said in a statement on Sunday that during interrogation, Tijani confessed that Shodolamu sent him to pick up the skull, adding that when the herbalist was arrested, he revealed the identity of the mortuary attendant, who was also apprehended.

He added that all the suspects would be charged.

Elkana stated, “On Sunday, March 1, 2020, around 1.30pm, a team of policemen from the Area ‘E’ Command, Festac, while on routine stop and search patrol at the Alakija bus stop, along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, intercepted one Dauda Tijani, 42, of No. 23 Omowunmi Street, Orege, Ajegunle, with a black polythene bag containing a human skull.

“He confessed that he was sent by one herbalist, Olawale Shodolamu, 70, to collect the skull from a cemetery attendant. The said herbalist was also arrested. He claimed that he bought the human skull from one Seun Falana, 37, an employee of Trinity Cemetery, Ajegunle, for the sum of N10,000.

“Shodolamu said he usually grinds the human skull with other substances to prepare charms for his customers. The third suspect was equally arrested. He confessed to digging out graves to remove human skulls to sell to herbalists. An investigation is ongoing. The suspects will soon be charged.”