/ 13 November 2001

NIGERIAN POLICE HOLD MAN CARRYING TWO HEADS

POLICE in Nigeria’s sprawling commercial capital, Lagos, were on Saturday preparing to prosecute a man detained after being found holding two human heads in a sack. ”We arrested the suspect on Friday carrying two human heads… We are going to prosecute him,” said Lagos State Police Commissioner Mike Okiro. The man, whose name was not revealed, was arrested in the Shogunle district of Lagos as he was about to board a bus, Okiro said, confirming a report by local television on Friday. Police were also seeking a number of alleged accomplices, he said. The Punch newspaper on Saturday identified the man as a cemetery attendant who had confessed to being a supplier human parts to occult practitioners. Belief in witchcraft is widespread in Nigeria and many people, including community and business leaders, are widely reported to believe that the use of human parts in occult spells will enhance their power. The arrested man told his interrogators that the current rate for a human head varies between 20 000 and 30 000 naira ($180 and $270), the Punch said. – Sapa-AFP