Man Dies While Trying To ‘Exhume Corpse For Ritual Purposes’

There was pandemonium in Ilobu town,  Irepodun local government area of Osun state when a dead man was discovered in an open grave with a shovel beside him.

According to residents, the man who was described to be middle aged may have been attempting to exhume a corpse for ritual purposes from the grave he was discovered stone dead.

The death of the suspected ritualist gave the residents an eerie feeling as they told newsmen that the man may have been struck down by the ‘spirit’ of the corpse he was trying to exhume.

The identity of the man is yet to be ascertained.



Reports say:

According to the residents of the area, they woke up to discover the lifeless body of the suspected ritualist around 7am beside the grave with digger and shovel.

A credible source in the community, who did not want to be named, told Saturday Tribune that “this particular corpse was buried five years ago and the suspected ritualist attended the burial in Ilobu.”

He explained: “There are indications that he did not dig the grave alone. What we discovered is that he may have been attempting to cut off the head of the corpse when something suddenly hooked him as he managed to force half of his body into the grave to cut off the head.

“He got hooked and died on the spot, a development which possibly compelled other ritualists to run away from the scene so that they may not be affected by the mysterious thing that killed (their colleague).”

While commenting on how the residents of Ilobu got to know about the incident, since it happened in the wee hours, the source said a woman who was hawking ogi (a local corn meal) early in the morning of Wednesday spotted the torso of the suspect sticking out of the grave and raised the alarm.

“His corpse was discovered around 6.30am and his head was covered in mud. The residents here alerted the police division in Ilobu and they later came to evacuate the body and put it in their van before taking him away,” he said.

Saturday Tribune was informed that the remains of the suspected ritualist were subsequently taken to and deposited at the mortuary of the Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital (LAUTECH), Osogbo, the state capital.

When contacted, the Commissioner of Police in Osun State, Mr Ibrahim Maishanu, said he was aware of the incident, and that the police would conduct investigation to determine what led to the suspect’s death.


He said the police could not confirm that the suspect was a ritualist because of the circumstances surrounding the discovery of his corpse at a grave in Ilobu; that they would have to investigate the matter before giving any concrete information on the incident




Reacting to the development, the Public Relations Officer of the State Police Command, Mrs Folashade Odoro confirmed the incident saying the suspected ritualist was confirmed dead by a medical expert.

She however advised the residents of Ilobu not to entertain fear stressing that the police would unravel the mystery surrounding the death of the suspected ritualist.

The PPRO then said the remains of the suspected ritualist had been deposited at the morgue for autopsy.