Man arrested for Digging Stepfather’s Grave, Cutting Off Head
The Adamawa State Police Command has arrested a 55-year-old hunter, Yusuf Garba, also known as Gana, for allegedly digging up his stepfather’s grave and severing his head.
According to Police Public Relations Officer SP Suleiman Yahaya Nguroje, Garba confessed to the crime during interrogation.
Hailing from Tappare Kona Uku in the Jada Local Government Area of the state, Garba recounted that the deceased’s son had requested his father’s head for ritual purposes following his death.
He explained that after his stepfather died, the son attempted to transport the corpse to Jalingo in Taraba State for burial, but was refused.
One year post-burial, the son resurfaced, asking for his father’s head for traditional practices.
Garba claimed he felt compelled to comply with his stepfather’s son, whom he believed to practice witchcraft and who threatened to harm him or his children if he refused.
“I took a hoe around 4:00 am, went to the graveyard, excavated the grave, and severed the head,” he stated.
He then returned home and handed the head to the son in a polythene bag.
The suspect further explained that two weeks later, the deceased’s wife came to him, expressing that she had been plagued by dreadful dreams since the head had been kept in their bedroom.
Garba said he performed a ritual to put an end to the nightmares.
Police spokesman SP Nguroje announced that the Commissioner of Police, CP Morris Dankombo, has ordered a thorough investigation and prosecution of the suspect..
