Five men, including a man and his two sons, have been arrested by police detectives in Minna, Niger State for allegedly selling human heads.

Apart from “killing, severing and selling the heads of their victims,” the accused are also described as cannibals who cook and eat human parts after setting aside the head for sale.

Mohammed Zubairu, 20, Ibrahim Zubairu, 22, and their father, Zubairu Makun Jubrin were picked up by the police along-side one Yakubu Adesina and a blacksmith that allegedly produced arms for the Zubairu family.

Adesina, a herbalist, is described as the buyer of human heads. Until his arrest, he was based in Ilorin, Kwara State.

Zubairu, a native of Edogi village in Kwara State, denied any involvement in the crime. His sons, however, faulted his claims, saying they had been involved in the satanic business with their father since 2004.

According to Mohammed and Ibrahim, their father had benefited several times from them after they had sold human parts to the Ilorin-based herbalist.

Ibrahim Zubairu, who appeared to be the spokesman of the ritualists, narrated how they used to get the human parts which they sold to Adesina.

He said in his confessional statement that they usually waylaid farmers on their way to the farm, killed the victims and removed the parts needed by Adesina.

He said most often it was the head that they used to collect and sell. The last time they killed a farmer on Lanle Road. According to Ibrahim, they sold the head to Adesina for N20,000 while other parts were sold for between N10,000 and N15,000.

Zubairu said they always left the remains of their victims to rot in the bush. However, the police claimed that they had evidence that the ritualists usually cooked and ate the remains of the human parts.

On their father’s allegation that he was being roped into the matter, Ibrahim expressed shock and disappointment at their father’s denial “In 2004 we were able to buy a Mazda salon car for our father from what we made from the sales”


Ibrahim also disclosed that he and his brother had been able to fund their education from the proceeds of their criminal acts. He wrote the senior school certificate examination this year while his elder brother Mohammed passed out last year at the same secondary school in their Edogi village.

Asked why they specialized in the sale of human heads, Ibrahim confessed that skulls fetch more money than other parts of the human anatomy.


Adesina, however, denied that he was a receiver of human parts, saying: ‘I only sell herbs to the people.

“People know me everywhere. They know that I don’t do such a thing,” Adesina, said, weeping profusely. But when asked how the boys identified him as the receiver of the human parts, he said it was possible they had seen him on the television. He, however, became speechless when confronted with the fact that Ibrahim and Mohammed knew his houses at both Ilorin and Share and took homicide detectives there without missing their way.


Zubairu Makun Jibrin, father of the two boys said he was surprised by the action of his children and denied that his sons bought the car for him.


‘I bought the car for N360,000 in 2004. I have shown the police the receipt,” Jibrin said.

He described the action of his children as ‘embarrassing and disgraceful,” adding that “I am ashamed of what they have done.”


Commissioner of Police in Niger State, Michael Zuomukor, who paraded the suspected ritualists before journalists said they were arrested by men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad during a stop and search operation at Mokwa.


Zuomukor said a locally-made-pistol, two live cartridges, two handsets, a bone, one Honda car with registration number AE 258 MKW, seven uncompleted guns, 15 dane guns and a Jincheng motorcycle were recovered from the suspects. He assured that would be arraigned after the completion of investigation.