Police in Ogun State have arrested five suspects, including an herbalist, for dismembering a 45-year-old housewife, Memunat Akinde, and a motorcyclist, Ibikunle Ajose.

The suspects allegedly committed the offence in the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of the state after the victims were declared missing on October 1, 2020.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.

Oyeyemi said the police in the state unravelled the mystery behind the sudden disappearance of Akinde and Ajose following the arrest of the suspects.

The PPRO added that the victims went missing on October 1, 2020, when the woman, who was a fish seller, left her house in the Idoleyin area of Ado-Odo to a nearby market to buy fish.

According to Oyeyemi, Akinde hired Ajose to convey her to the market, but both never returned home.

He said, “This prompted the woman’s husband to lodge a complaint at the Ado-Odo Divisional Headquarters, where the case was formally recorded.

“The case was later transferred to the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the state Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department on the orders of the Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, who gave the team a marching order to unravel the mystery behind the disappearance of the two within the shortest possible period.

“The team there and then embarked on an intelligence and technical-based investigation and the efforts paid off when one of the suspects, Okediran Monsuru, was traced to Badagry and apprehended.

“His arrest led to the apprehension of three others, Ajaoba Monday, Akewusola Wajud and Nupo Pona.”

Oyeyemi said the suspects confessed to have slaughtered and dismembered the victims on the instructions of one Lebo.

He added that police recovered the woman’s head at the herbalist’s shrine, while Lebo, said to be the contractor, is still being hunted.