Yusuf Garba, a 55-year-old man has been arrested in Adamawa State.
He was arrested for allegedly digging up the corpse of his stepfather from a grave and cutting off the head.
The Adamawa State Police Command, which apprehended the 55-year-old hunter, Yusuf Garba, said Friday that the suspect who hails from Tappare Kona Uku in Jada LGA, had confessed to the crime to police interrogators.
The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Suleiman Nguroje, said the suspect explained that the son of the deceased came to him and demanded the head of his late father for ritual purposes.
According to Nguroje, the suspect had narrated that when his stepfather died, the deceased’s biological son tried to take the corpse to Jalingo in Taraba State for burial, but other family members rejected the request.
The suspect added that a year after the burial of the deceased, the biological son stormed the house and asked for his head for traditional rites, mounting pressure on him (Yusuf Garba), leaving him no choice but to go for the said head.
“I took a hoe around 4:00am, went to the grave yard, digged the grave and cut off the head,” Yusuf said, adding, “I returned home and gave him (the biological son) the head in a polythene bag and the son collected it and left,” Yusuf said
He stressed that he did what he was asked out of fear because “the son is a witch and can attack me or my children if I refuse to do so”.
Yusuf further told the police that after two weeks, the wife of the deceased who the son in question inherited, came and complained to him that she had been having terrible dreams since the time the head was kept in their bedroom.
He said that he asked her to bring a chicken, which she did, and he went and dug the grave, slaughtered the chicken and poured its blood on the decomposed body to stop the dreams.
“After I performed the ritual, I went and cooked the chicken and ate it. I did that about four years ago but because I had a little problem with Benjamin, he reported the matter to the police,” Yusuf said.
Nguroje confirmed that the arrest of Yusuf was indeed a response to a complaint from Benjamin Jatau, who accused the suspect of digging up the grave and cutting the head of a man.
Nguroje said the Commissioner of Police, CP Morris Dankombo, has ordered discreet investigation and eventual prosecution of the suspects.
