Obiaruku: Police Nab Suspected Sellers Of Human Parts In Herdsmen Camp

They Are Suspected Kidnappers, We Are Not Aware Of Their Links To Herdsmen, Says Police

By Emmanuel Esegbue-Bertrams, Obiaruku

A young identified as Chidi has led members of Obiaruku vigilante group, a team of police and army personnel to a thick forest to uncover a syndicate group alleged to be involved in the kidnap of persons and sale of human parts with strong ties to suspected Fulani herdsmen residing in a thick forest located between Abraka-Obiaruku farm reserves.

According to a chief in Obiaruku who spoke to Oasis Magazine (OM) correspondent on conditions of anonymity, he disclosed that the community has been under a serious security threat with cases of missing persons reported on a daily basis.

He noted that the community has been worried as majority of the missing cases were men and women who go to farm at the Abraka-Obiaruku farm reserve.

For over two weeks, an elderly woman (name withheld) has been declared missing by her family. The woman is said to have gone to farm two weeks ago and never returned. All efforts to find her proved abortive as she disappeared without trace. Not even her bicycle or any of her personal effects were found by her family’s search party that even was at her farm in the reserve.

Sources said when every physical effort failed, the woman’s family members decided to go spiritual. They thus dispatched a family delegate to Umuebu, a neighboring village where they consulted a traditionalist.

According to sources, the said traditionalist after spiritual consultations found out that the missing woman was alive and that she was held captive by a strong team of “strangers.”

He further told them that the power of the community’s deity will bring everything to the open and that the woman will be released.

On Monday, 21st January, 2021, the Obiaruku vigilante team received a visitor. The visitor, a whistle-blower, revealed to the vigilante that a young man came to tell him and one of his friends to join his kidnap gang and start making big money. The whistle-blower further revealed to the vigilante that they operate with a well armed Fulani herdsmen group residing in a camp in the Abraka-Obiaruku farm reserve.

According to the whistle-blower, the notorious kidnapper is an indigene of Obiaruku and he has an accomplice who is from Umuaja. He revealed further that the human parts business is a very lucrative one and he and his accomplice have already built two houses each from the proceeds of the crime.

Shortly afterwards, the vigilante team was led by the whistle-blower to arrest the culprits, while another account said that one of the culprits turned himself in when he could no more bear the atrocities that they have been committing..

Following the interrogation, the vigilante invited police and army personnel. The culprit opened up and told the security team the full detail of his gang’s heinous crime. With the confession of the suspect, his criminal accomplice who comes from Umuaja was revealed and subsequently arrested.

The man further revealed in his confession that they used a charmed handkerchief to clean the face of their victims which makes them lose control of their senses and this enables them carry the victim to the Fulani herdsmen residing in the forest camp.

He also revealed that the herdsmen usually keep their victims alive and feed them well until they receive order for purchase of human parts.

When they receive such orders, they kill a victim and cut off the required part and send to the buyer.

According to the suspect, the breast of a female victim is sold for as much as N1.5 million and above.

The suspect and his accomplice from Umuaja further confessed that some yahoo boys work with them in the human parts racket, as they also bring buyers to buy the parts.

This revelation has led to the arrest of two yahoo boys while the arrested suspects thereafter led the security team to the thick forest where the Fulani herdsmen built their camp and reside.

It was further revealed that when the security team got to the camp, they met only some cows and personal effects of the herdsmen, as the herdsmen were said to have escaped into the bush before the arrival of the security team.

Meanwhile, the four suspects are currently in police custody at Agbor Area Command, while investigation is still ongoing.

At press time, police sources at Agbor Area Command said they were not aware of the sale of human parts account, adding that the army officers that brought the suspects said they were kidnappers and did not make mention of any involvement in selling of human parts.

However, the account that said they had strong link with Fulani herdsmen was confirmed by the police source who said he was not authorized to speak on the matter.

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When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Onome Onovwakpoyeya, said herdsmen was not mentioned in the report, but added that some persons were arrested in connection to kidnapping.

She said: “Those arrested are linked to a kidnapping case. Initially, two persons were arrested and they said they have their counterparts in the bush and that is how a joint patrol of the military and police together with the vigilante stormed the bush and an additional three persons were arrested. There was no mention of herdsmen. “

At the time of filing this report, our source said some Fulani herdsmen have just been arrested but could not ascertain if they are linked to the matter.