Ex-convict arrested with human skull at Ogun burial ground
The Ogun State Community, Social Orientation, and Safety Corps, known as So-Safe Corps, has apprehended a 54-year-old man, Adelani Oriyomi, at a burial ground in Kere, Obada-Oko, Abeokuta, for allegedly attempting to exhume a human skùll.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Corps Commander, Soji Ganzallo, through the Director of Information and Public Relations, Assistant Commander Moruf Yusuf, detailed the arrest.
“At about 2:35 a.m. on January 21, 2025, officers of the So-Safe Corps on routine patrol noticed suspicious activity behind a church. The suspect, identified as Adelani Oriyomi, was caught trying to conceal himself. When the coast seemed clear, he resumed digging a tomb to allegedly retrieve a human skull. Our officers immediately apprehended him,” Ganzallo said.
Oriyomi, a resident of Kere, Obada-Oko in Ewekoro Local Government Area, reportedly confessed to the crime during interrogation. He admitted to previously exhuming a skull on January 18, 2025, and claimed he was attempting to retrieve another for a money ritual known as “Osole.”
The suspect further confessed to being a serial offender, having sold nearly ten human skulls in the past. He revealed prior convictions for similar crimes, serving two years in prison for an offence in Ado-Odo and an additional six years and nine months at the Oba Correctional Centre for another crime in Obada-Oko.
Ganzallo confirmed that the recovered human skull, along with the suspect, has been handed over to the Nigeria Police Force at Obada Divisional Headquarters for further investigation and possible prosecution.
He urged community leaders to be vigilant in screening tenants and visitors to prevent criminal activities. “Such vigilance can secure 70% of home safety, with the remaining 30% relying on alertness to external threats,” Ganzallo added.
