Uncovered, Graveyard where campus cults bury their victims

Since the arrest of both suspects, an investigation conducted by law enforcement agents to establish the circumstances surrounding the disappearance  of Olokodana has led to the arrest of about seven people, including  some commercial motorcyclists in the area.
CRIME DIGEST learnt that the motorcyclists, believed to have supplied the means of transportation used during the operation that led to the killing of Olokodana, made useful statements to the police.

They riders that they were forced at gunpoint to cooperate with the alleged cultists behind the murder and could not refuse for fear of losing their lives. Their statements paved the way for the investigation.

Perhaps unsettled by the heat generated during the investigation, some of the cultists had contacted the father of the deceased and told him via the telephone not bother to search for his son because they had given him a ‘befitting’ burial.

With this, the university authorities and the police collaborated and intensified efforts to find the body of the missing boy. Their search eventually yielded some results, as they stumbled on two graves, which were separated by a distance of about 200 metres.

Mr. Olokodana, the father of the deceased, a team of policemen, representatives of TASUED, and this reporter were at the graveyard recently.

The graveyard was discovered at Imaweje in Ijebu-Ode. Judging from the structure of the houses in the community, which is not far from TASUED, it was easy to conclude that they served as hostels for students of the institution.

Most of buildings in the vicinity of the mystery graveyard were obviously vacant and overgrown with weeds. Later, it was gathered that the fear of cult members had compelled the erstwhile occupants of the houses to desert them.

The first shallow grave was discovered behind one of the hostels. But sources said the landlord of that particular hostel, had to leave when the boys involved started causing trouble for him. Beside the hostel lies the ruins of what used to be a makeshift church.

The source said, “The residents of Imaweje are so scared that they would rather leave the area than report the activities of these boys to the police.”

About 20 metres from the deserted hostel, what looked like human bones, bleached white by sunlight, poked out of a heap of sharp sand.

When the sand was removed and the bones excavated, the father of the deceased immediately recognised his son through the clothes he wore. “This is my son. He was fond of wearing this particular trousers. He was a tall boy,” Mr. Olokodana said repeatedly.

It was obvious that the body was simply dumped on the surface and the fresh sharp sand that was used to cover up the corpse was an after-thought.

When the sand was removed, it was obvious that the body had decomposed. What remained of the deceased was a skeleton. The deceased was obviously a tall person. CRIME DIGEST observed that his ankles were missing. Apparently, his assailants had cut them off because the space could not contain his corpse.

The skull bore tell-tale evidence of a deep gash. From the look of it, one of the policemen noted, it was likely he was hit on the head with the butt of a gun. The deceased  must have been bound with electric cable, which was also recovered from the shallow grave, and buried without a shirt on his body.

Also found inside the grave were two additional human bones and a spent bullet shell. The second shallow grave contained two full-length skeletons. There was a fractured skull among other human bone parts scattered around the grave. One had to be careful not to step on a human bone. But the three bodies found in this grave could not be identified by the visitors.

Mr. Olokodana, who is a medical practitioner, told CRIME DIGEST that the death of his son was a great loss to his family. He said his wife had accepted what happened in good faith.

Waving aside allegations that his son was involved in cult-related activities, Mr. Olokodana described him as an easy-going person who shunned violence in any form.

He said, “Nurudeen was tall and light complexioned. He was easy-going and did not like trouble. My son was not a cultist. His disappearance was not an easy one on us. His death is even more painful to deal with, but his mother and I are coping with it.

“We see it as God’s doing. The police are investigating and we have faith in them that justice would prevail. We’re praying that justice would prevail so my son’s death would not be in vain.”

The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, told CRIME DIGEST that as soon as it received information from the university authorities, the police had swung into action.  He said, “We got information from the school that some boys buried their victims at Imaweje. Immediately we swung into action and recovered four bodies. One was identified, while the remaining three were not.

“Seven boys were arrested during the National Union of Road Transport Worker’s crisis. Out of the seven, two youths, namely (Adedoyin) Adegboyega and (Babatunde) Osho, were involved in the grave issue. They have all been charged to court and they are being remanded.”

He said the Ogun State Commissioner of Police and the Inspector-General of Police had granted him permission to move round the educational institutions in the state and address the students on the need to avoid violence.

He said it would be a good opportunity to strengthen their relationship with the school and the community so as to foster an enabling environment for community policing.

Culled from Punch