I would’ve funded my children’s education with money ritual cash – Suspect

A 35-year-old herbalist and suspected member of a notorious syndicate of ritualists, Ifasoji Ayangbesan, who was arrested for allegedly killing and dismembering one Oyindamola Adeyemi in Ogun State, tells DAUD OLATUNJI about his involvement and why he offered the police N1m to influence his escape

you were identified as a herbalist. Do you have another occupation?

I am a farmer and a herbalist. I am the last born in the family. My father married many wives.

What is your educational background?

I attended Nazareth Secondary School in Epe, Lagos. I didn’t go to a higher institution. I was told that I was going to be a herbalist. My dad told me that he had a consultation and was told that I would become a herbalist.

Did you believe him?

No. I left for Lagos to do different jobs. I drove commercial motorcycles and buses, but I did not get any headway. I was told that I had been ordained to be a herbalist. I had to settle for that.

How long have you been working as a herbalist?

For 16 years. I thank God I can feed my family. I live in a rented apartment. My house is under construction.

What kind of farming do you do?

Peasant farming. I grow cassava on a plot of land I rented. I hire people to weed and cultivate cassava for me.

For how long have you been engaged in farming?

I have been farming for a long time, since when I was young.

Where is your farm located?

My farm is in Ijebu-Iloti in Ijebu-Ode.

How do you combine farming with your work as a herbalist?

I go to the farm early in the morning, and I settle down for my work as a herbalist and attend to people in the evening.

How did you become a herbalist?

I was born into it. My father was a herbalist. I also learnt it from another experienced herbalist.

Where does he live?

He lives in Iloti, not too far from my place.

What’s your father’s name?

My dad’s name is Kosija Ayangbesan. He died about 20 years ago. My dad did not have any book of records, which we call an account, to me. He was an Ifa priest.  My dad taught me, but he didn’t teach me how to be wicked.

 Do you believe in money rituals?

I don’t know about that. I learnt about Ifa.

Do you help people, including Internet fraudsters, who want to get rich quickly?

No, I have not done that for anybody. I don’t work for them (Internet fraudsters). I only help people with my knowledge. I took the human part because I didn’t know that the owner of the legs was killed.

Do you believe that you will get rich after using the human legs for money rituals?

I have never done it in my life. I believe in it.

What did you plan to do with the money you thought the money rituals would give you?

I planned to help many Nigerians with it. I also planned to finance my children’s education and take care of my family and friends.

But you were arrested for money rituals. Weren’t you?

It was my friend that lured me into this (money rituals).  He is from Ishiwo, he is called Egbeji. He encouraged me to do it. He said if I could try to do it, I would be rich and my life would be better.

What exactly did he ask you to do?

He told me to do money rituals.

How did he ask you to go about it?

Lukman called me and said that he wanted to sell something to me.

Who is Lukman?

He lives in Ijebu-Ode. He is a friend. He was arrested in Ijebu-Ode for murder. He told me to talk to Egbeji to guide me on how to go about money rituals and I called Egbeji who told me the process.

Do you know what brought you here?

What happened was that a man was arrested in Ijebu Ode. It was Lukman that pointed at me as the one he sold (human) legs to, and to be sincere, I bought the legs from him. Lukman sold the (human) legs to me.

What type of legs did he sell to you?

He sold a dead person’s legs to me.

Where did he say he got the legs?

He said he saw it at a burial ground.

How many transactions have you and Lukman done together?

That was the first time I bought one (a pair of legs) from him.

Did you not request the legs?

He called me and sold the legs for me at the rate of N20,000.

How many legs did you buy?

I bought a pair of legs of a dead person from him, so I told him I didn’t have the charm to use it for. He later said he had someone in Ishiwo called Egbeji, a native of Ishiwo, and that he would put me through how to use it.

What is Egbeji’s other name?

Oye

What happened next?

So, I called Egbeji to inform him. He gave me the go-ahead to buy it (the pair of legs), and that he knew how to use it, so I bought it.

Where’s he now?

He’s on the run.

What did you do with the legs?

I used it for money rituals. I prepared it as I was instructed, and then I put it inside a bottle for me to use. I burnt them to ashes with some ingredients.

Have you started using it?

I have not started using it. I threw it away when the matter came up. He told me he exhumed them (the legs) from a  cemetery.

But it was said that the legs were fresh. Weren’t they?

Yes. They were fresh.

Is it possible to exhume fresh legs from a cemetery?

I am not lying. He brought them to me. He said he and others exhumed them from a cemetery. I am not a murderer.

How long have you been in this business?

Which business? We only knew each other in the neighbourhood. We did not do any business together.

If you claim you didn’t have any business with him, why did you jump on his offer to sell severed human legs to you?

He told me to buy them and told me to call a herbalist to guide me on how to use them. When I told him I wasn’t into this kind of job, he told me to call Egbeji.

How were you arrested?

On January 3, 2023, I went to work in the Ajah area of Lagos. The next day, I was called and told that it was discovered that someone sold (human) legs to me.

Who called you?

The police called, so I denied it, and I was afraid, and since then, I was on the run.

Where did you run to?

I ran to Ijebu-Mushin then. I just went there to lie low.

Do you have anybody there?

I don’t have anybody there. I was there for about two months. I’ve not been settled since I received that call from the police.

Why didn’t you surrender when the police called you?

I didn’t see the call from the police, that’s why I didn’t show up.

But you said earlier that the police called and that was why you ran to Mushin. Are you denying your statement?

Oh, no. It was my daughter that called to inform me that the police were around, and as she was talking, I knew the police were around.

Did you use the opportunity to run away since your daughter called?

No. I went to Ajah to work for a client then.

Which work did you do in Ajah?

I went to meet a client to perform some rituals.

What made you take steps to perform money rituals?

Nothing, my friend told me if I used them (the legs), I would be rich, not that I’m in poverty.

Where did you get the N1m that was found with you?

When the police came to my house, I wasn’t around. I was told that they took my machine, generator, gas and wristwatch. So, I went back to Ijebu-Mushin to meet someone, and he said he would help me get a lawyer.

Did you tell the person what you did?

No. The person told me he got a lawyer. He also told me that I would spend money. I told him I didn’t have much, and begged him to help me. So, I gathered N1m.

How long did it take you to raise the money?

I got it in a month.

Did you give the money to the lawyer?

He said we should go to the station to know the situation. When we got to the station, I was told to bring N10m, but I begged them to accept N1m.

What was the N10m for, to cover the crime?

I don’t understand too, but I raised N1m.

Since you paid N1m, why were you detained?

I was asked who told me to bring the money. I told them nobody except God, so they asked me to sit down. They put the money in front of me and took photographs of me.

Did you know that you committed an offence for which you were arrested?

I know.

How many children do you have?

I cannot say it. The Yoruba believe we should not state the number of one’s children.

How about your wives? How many do you have?

I don’t want to announce the number.

You have some tattoos on your body. Is that part of what makes you a herbalist, or do you belong to a cult group?

I am not a cultist. I went to Lagos that day and saw people in a motor park doing it (having a tattoo), so I stopped and had mine. At that time, it cost N3,000 or N4,000.

Your tattoo reads ‘Dr Olaifa’. Are you a doctor?

I believe that as a herbalist and Ifa priest, I am a doctor. I am a herbalist who helps people to make sacrifices and exorcise people from spiritual problems. I don’t kill people. I am not a killer. I beg for mercy from the government. I promise that I will not do it again. I just want the government to show mercy. I want the government to forgive me. I know it (the crime) has happened but I plead with the government to set me free.

Where are your family members and have they come to see you?

They live in Lagos. They have not come. My wives have already left me. The first day the incident became public, they packed out of my apartment.