It was stated that they were taking the blood to the said native doctor for rituals purposes.
Operatives of the Delta State Police Command have arrested a native doctor, Godfrey Akpudje, who allegedly exhumed a corpse from a grave and removed the skull.
A statement issued by the Command's spokesman, Bright Edafe, said Akpudje was arrested after a relative of the deceased person reported the incident at the station.
The incident happened in the Ekpan Ovu area of the state. Police said upon the culprit's arrest, two human skulls were recovered from him. Akpudje claimed he got one of the human skulls from Osun State.
He said it was from a native doctor who is now dead, police said.
It was also alleged that in another operation, three suspects, Monday Nwite, Madabuchi Nweke, and Nwite Sunday were found with a container filled with fresh human blood.
They allegedly confessed to have murdered some unknown persons in Ebonyi State and were on their way to a native doctor with the murdered persons' blood. It was stated that they were taking the blood to the said native doctor for rituals purposes.
The police statement read, ”Delta State Police Command under the watch of CP Ari Muhammed Ali, FCIA, psc+ is not leaving any stone unturned. Officers and men have continued to key into the CP’s policing strategies.
“The CP has continuously pressed it on DPOS, tactical commanders, and officers and men of the command to be on their toes. He also mandated DPOS to step up patrol in their area of responsibilities, gather intelligence, and make the presence of the police felt in the state. This will go a long way to deter criminals from showing their ugly faces.
"On the 24/6/2021 at about 1700hrs, one Ejiro Okoro ‘m’ 35 years reported that his sister (name withheld) aged 65 years who died sometime in 2019 and was buried at Ekpan Ovu, that the corpse was exhumed by an unknown person. On the strength of this report, the DPO Isiokolo Division swung into action, and detailed police detectives to investigate.
”During the course of investigation, information gathered through intelligence revealed that, it was one Godfrey Akpudje ‘m’ 60 years who happens to be a native doctor that exhumed the corpse, and removed the skull, he was immediately arrested and two human skulls were recovered from him. He said he got one of the human skulls from Osun state from a native doctor who is now late, investigation is ongoing.
"On the 28/6/2021 at about 1145hrs, Dragon patrol team 31 while on stop and search duty at Nsukwa junction along Ogwashi-Uku/Kwale road intercepted a commuter sienna bus travelling from Asaba to Kwale, all passengers were asked to submit themselves for search.
“During the search, three suspects were found with a container filled with Fresh human blood, the three suspects namely Monday Nwite ‘m’ 27 years, Madabuchi Nweke ‘m’ 26 years and Nwite Sunday ‘m’ 21 years all of Ebenta village in Ohaukwu LGA, Ebonyi State were immediately arrested.
"During interrogation, the suspects confessed to have murdered some unknown persons in Ebonyi State and were on their way with the murdered person’s blood to a native doctor whose identity is unknown for now but resides in Kwale.
“They were taking the blood to the said native doctor for rituals purposes. One rosary necklace tied with charms was also recovered from them. The investigation is ongoing.”