MAN ALMOST KILLED FOR BUYING DISCARDED HUMAN HAIR

A 60-year-old man identified as Adewale Okunade, a landlord of a house on Segun Olatunji Street, Ijoko, Ota, Ogun State narrowly escaped being lynched on Thursday when some people in the neighbourhood pounced on him.

They alleged that the hair was being taken to an herbalist in Cotonou, Republic of Benin, who uses it to prepare charms for him.
It was gathered that the man had been in the business for some years but nemesis caught up with him on the fateful day when his ‘business partner’, a bricklayer, gave him away.

Okunade said he had been using the hair to cure himself of festering sores on his leg and
denied the hair was meant for rituals, saying he used to take the hair to an herbalist to prepare concoctions for his sores.
Many traditional medicine practitioners who were there when Okunade was apprehended, said human hair could only be used for rituals not for curing sores.

“The suspect’s partner had gone to a barber in their neighbourhood to buy some hair. The barber, however, refused. The suspect sent his partner to go to the barber’s apprentice.

“When they got to the apprentice, he agreed, but unknown to them that the barber was monitoring their movement. The barber decided to lay ambush for them.

“When he (barber) saw them with a cellophane bag, he raised the alarm and  many people in the neighbourhood were drawn to the scene. By the time they checked the contents in the bag, they saw plenty of human hair.

“That was how the community pounced on his partner and started questioning him about the source of the hair.
 It was in the course of that the partner said it was Okunade who sent him.
The community however pounced on Okunade upon siting him.
“The community, not satisfied with his explanation, decided to hand him over to the police at Sango Police Station.”

A  resident, who craved anonymity, said, “We have yet to come to terms with his pedestrian explanation. As for us, he is not saying the whole truth.
“We learnt that he pays between N200,000 and N300,000 for each consignment of hair. You can see that his explanation lacks the essential elements of truth. I am also amazed that human hair has become a cure for sores.”
The case is currently being investigated and handled by the police.