Police arrest suspected ritualist for mutilating 18-year-old neighbour’s corpse in Osun

The Osun State Police Command has arrested a suspected ritualist, Saheed Babalola, for allegedly desecrating a corpse in Feesu community, near Iwo, Osun State.

The deceased, an 18-year-old girl residing in the same house with Babalola, was said to have passed away from unnatural cause on Sunday, October 11, 2026 and was buried the same day within the premises where she had lived.

It was also gathered that Babalola joined other mourners to bury the deceased.

But in the early hours of Monday, Babalola and two others, whose identities could not be immediately ascertained, allegedly returned to the burial site, exhumed the corpse and severed its head and wrist.

Luck, however, ran out on Babalola when some residents in the neighbourhood, reacting to strange sounds coming from the burial site, swung into action and caught him in the act, while his accomplices fled the scene.

People in the neighbourhood apprehended Babalola and handed him over to the police.

The spokesperson for the command, Abiodun Ojelabi, who confirmed the incident on Wednesday said Babalola was cooperating with operatives investigating the matter.

The PPRO said the deceased and the suspect were neighbours at Olomo Compound, Feesu, Iwo.

“Police officers went to the scene, and the suspect, Saheed Babalola, was arrested. The incident occurred on October 12. The deceased was buried on the 11th. The report said that the neighbours heard a strange noise, and when they went out, they met Saheed where they buried the deceased," he said. 

“He was arrested by the police in Iwo Division, but he has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID). The State CID went further with the investigation and discovered where he kept the head and the hand of the victim.

“We were able to recover the head and the hand. Investigation is still ongoing. Both the suspect and the deceased lived at the same address in Olomo Compound, Feesu in Iwo."