An Ekiti State Chief Magistrates’ Court sitting in Ado Ekiti has ordered the remand of three men in a correctional centre for allegedly exhuming 10 corpses and severing their heads for ritual purposes.
The Chief Magistrate, Mrs Adefumike Anoma, who ordered the defendants’ remand pending the issuance of legal advice, adjourned the case till November 6, 2020, for mention.
The police prosecutor, Inspector Monica Ikebuilo, said the defendants committed the offence between March and September 2020 in Orun-Ekiti. Ise Orun Local Government Area of the state.
The defendants, Kola Fatoye, 40; Abimbola Fatoye, 35; and Ahmed Ojo, 56, are facing a charge of exhumation of corpses.
“The defendants dug up graves and severed heads of corpses at the St. Paul’s Anglican Church cemetery in Orun-Ekiti,” Ikebuilo stated.
The prosecutor said 10 corpses were exhumed and used for charms, which were found in the possession of the defendants without any reasonable excuse.
“The offence contravenes and is punishable under sections 242(1)b, 210(e) and 213(b) of the Criminal Code, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012,” she said.
The prosecutor urged the court to remand the defendants in the Ado Ekiti Correctional Centre pending legal advice from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The plea of the defendants was not taken.
