Ifasoji Ayangbesan, a suspected ritualist who was just recently detained by the police on suspicion of being involved in the murder of Oyindamola Adeyemi, 26, in Ogun State, has said that he merely paid N20,000 for the victim’s legs.
Since his other conspirators were detained in January for murdering the woman and selling her body parts to money ritualists, the 35-year-old Ayangbesan has been hiding out.
On Wednesday, Ayangbesan claimed he was not involved in the victim’s murder when he was paraded by the police in Abeokuta.
The resident of Ijebu-Ode claims to be a herbalist and not a practitioner of money rituals, and claims to have obtained the legs from his buddy Lukman, who informed him that he had excavated and separated the corpse parts from a graveyard.
Although I did purchase two new human legs, I was not responsible for the victim’s murder. My friend Lukman came up to me and said he was selling a set of legs. He persuaded me to use them in a ceremony to improve my life even though I had informed him I didn’t need them.
He sent me to one of his buddies, Oye, who is known as Egbeji in Isiwo, when I told him that I was not taught how to gain money through rituals as a traditionalist.
“After learning from that friend of his, I burned the legs and stored them, intending to finish the ceremony when I got back from Ajah.
“However, my daughter called me while I was in Ajah to tell me that police were looking for me. I later entered covertly and removed the burned legs in order to avoid being discovered with any proof, he claimed.
Ayangbesan responded negatively when asked if he had actually offered to pay N1 million to bribe the police, claiming that a lawyer had instructed him to pay N10 million to guarantee his release but he had only been able to get N1 million.
When he went to give the money to the attorney, he claimed, he was arrested.
