Police arrest Beninoise with human skull in Lagos

Two nationals of Benin Republic - Gerald Djassau and Sassau Djimon have been arrested by the Police in Lagos, for allegedly being in possession of a human skull.

The first suspect, Djassau, who claimed to be a herbalist in Benin Republic, was arrested on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway when the police on patrol caught him with a human skull in a box.

According to Punch, upon interrogation by the police, 32-year-old Djassau confessed that he obtained the skull from an herbalist friend in his community in Cotonou, Benin Republic. Continue...

The police told our correspondent that the second suspect, Djimon, who is also a herbalist and lives at Owode Egba, Abeokuta, Ogun State, was expecting Djassau to bring the skull from Benin to his house.

Our correspondent gathered from the police that both suspects had confessed to the crime.

The Benin nationals, it was learnt, were first arrested by policemen from the Badagry Police Division on Friday, August 1, before their case was later transferred to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the state command.

Djassau, who is married with two children, said that he brought the human skull to Lagos to give Djimon, his fellow national, so that they could use it to get more “spiritual powers.”

He said, “I have come to Nigeria only once, and that was last year. During that visit, I came to see a fellow practitioner in Abeokuta, Ogun State. That was also the time I met Djimon. I told him that I would come later to meet him.

“I needed more powers to treat more ailments and I got the parts which would be needed to seek these powers. I knew that it was a crime because my heart was not at rest as we approached Lagos. Anyway, I was eventually caught.

“I did not kill the person. We don’t kill people in my community. They get the parts from whoever was killed by mysterious means such as thunder, lightning and others. Such people are not to be buried so that they will not defile the land.”

The other suspect, 28-year-old Djimon admitted that he was truly expecting Djassau to pay him a visit, but was not aware that he was bringing a human skull.

The father of five children said, “Although I am a Benin national, I grew up in Lagos, and that is why I can speak the Yoruba language. I work as a herbalist in the Owode Egba area of Abeokuta. I treat women who are barren, people who have epilepsy, blood pressure and other ailments.

“When Djassau came to my house last year, he met other herbalists and said he needed more powers for his work.

“When leaving, he told me he would be bringing an idol for me from Benin Republic which would be used to get the powers.

“I did not know he was bringing a human skull until I saw the police in my house to arrest me.”

The former Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, AIG Umar Manko, has since directed the SARS operatives, led by Abba Kyari, to take over the case and get to the root of the matter.