A Ughelli North man has been arrested for allegedly killing his friend and roommate before selling the victim's vital organs to an unidentified pastor for ritual purposes.
A neighbor of suspect Okpegboro Avwerosuo, 34, said the assailant had seemingly invited the victim to his home in the Sagbama area of Bayelsa State to become his business partner in a commuter motorcycle business.
Avwerosuo had allegedly assured the victim that the business was flourishing in the town because of the patronage of students from the Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro College of Education in the area, The Nation reported.
The friend reportedly stayed at Avwerosuo's residence for a long time after the initial meeting. However, a fight seems to have broken out two weeks after the victim arrived in the town, with Avwerosuo smashing a pestle against the victim's head in the middle of the night, resulting in the man's death.
A suspicious neighbor had asked Avwerosuo about his friend's whereabouts after the victim's sudden disappearance. He had claimed that the victim had returned to Delta for an urgent business transaction.
Spurred by their curiosity and suspicion, the neighbor broke into Avwerosuo's home and proceeded to pin down the suspect after finding evidence of bloodstains. Authorities were shortly summoned to the scene and found parts of a gruesomely disfigured body in nearby woodlands.
Avwerosuo had reportedly dismembered the remains of his friend after the brutal killing, setting aside the victim's vital organs, while putting the other human body parts into sacks to be disposed of.
"Upon interrogation prior to his being handed over to the police, the suspect confessed that he had sold the vital organs of the deceased to a pastor in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, for ritual purposes," the authorities said.
The unidentified pastor remains at large.
According to The Guardian, the President of SALGA Federated Youth Council (Worldwide), Preye Keku Casey, has condemned the gruesome killing.
"Just yesterday, the decomposing body of a young man was discovered in the bush by well-meaning indigenes with several parts of the body already cut into pieces and placed on sack bags," Casey stated. "The Nigerian Police, Sagbama Division, was alerted, and it led to the arrest of a young man resident in Sagbama community, suspected to have been the perpetrator of the ungodly act."
Casey urged Sagbama youth to be careful and vigilant as they go about their business, especially in the wake of the rising insecurity in the country.
Casey also urged the security agencies to ensure that proper investigations be done and ensure the arrest and prosecution of everyone involved in the heinous act.
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