Ex-Convict Arrested with Human Skull in Ogun Burial Ground

The Ogun State Community, Social Orientation, and Safety Corps (So-Safe Corps) have arrested 54-year-old Adelani Oriyomi at a burial ground in Kere, Obada-Oko, Abeokuta, Ogun State, for allegedly attempting to exhume a human skull.

The arrest was confirmed in a press statement released on Tuesday by So-Safe Corps Commander Soji Ganzallo, through the office of the Corps’ Director of Information and Public Relations, Assistant Commander Moruf Yusuf.

Ganzallo said, “At about 2:35 a.m. on January 21, 2025, officers of the So-Safe Corps on routine patrol observed suspicious activity on a parcel of land behind a church.

“The suspect, identified as 54-year-old Adelani Oriyomi, was spotted trying to hide.

“Once the coast seemed clear, he resumed digging the tomb to allegedly retrieve a human skull. However, the officers returned to the scene, apprehending him before he could escape.”

The statement revealed that the suspect, a resident of Kere, Obada-Oko in Ewekoro Local Government Area, confessed to the crime during interrogation. He admitted that on January 18, 2025, he exhumed a skull from a tomb located on a plot of land behind his residence.

Oriyomi reportedly confessed that he was attempting to retrieve another skull to complete the number required for a money ritual preparation known as ‘Osole’ when he was apprehended. He further admitted to being a serial offender, having sold nearly ten skulls in the past.

During interrogation, Oriyomi explained that he had been previously arrested for similar offenses in Ado-Odo, where he served two years of imprisonment, and later spent an additional six years and nine months at the Oba Correctional Centre following another conviction in Obada-Oko.

So-Safe Corps Commander, Soji Ganzallo, confirmed that the suspect, along with the recovered exhibit—a fully dried human skull—has been handed over to the Nigeria Police Force, Obada Divisional Headquarters, for further investigation and potential prosecution.

Ganzallo urged community leaders to thoroughly screen tenants and visitors in order to prevent harboring undesirable individuals, emphasizing that such vigilance could contribute to 70% of home security, with the remaining 30% relying on alertness to external threats.