In Minna, five individuals from Sakpe village in Edati Local Government Area have been sentenced to 60 years in jail for possessing a human skull. They were convicted on three counts of criminal conspiracy, trespass on a burial ground, and unlawful possession of a human skull, which are punishable under sections 97, 213, and 219 of the penal code law.
The case began when the police prosecutor, Inspector Mua’azu Abdullahi, brought these individuals before the court. They were initially arrested in Bida and subsequently transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for a thorough investigation.
The convicts had sought the services of a Minna-based herbalist to improve their lives and make them wealthy. The herbalist instructed them to obtain a human skull for this purpose. In pursuit of this, they went to a Muslim cemetery in Nasarafu village, where they dug up a grave and took the human skull of someone who had passed away three years prior, identified as Late Yan Ndako Daniya.
During their court appearance, all five of the accused individuals pleaded guilty to the three charges. The prosecutor, Inspector Mua’azu Abdullahi, requested the court to apply section 157 of the Criminal Procedure Code for a summary trial and subsequent conviction.
