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Claim: A Facebook user, Ebuka Odo, shared an image claiming that a 37-year-old man was arrested with a dried human skull in Ondo State, Southwest Nigeria.
Verdict: Misleading! Media reports reveal that the image and story shared by the Facebook claimant occurred in 2024, not recently as claimed.
Full Text
On Saturday, June 28, 2025, an internet user, Ebuka Odo, uploaded on Facebook an image showing one Yusuf Adenoyin arrested with human skulls in Akoko, Ondo State. He claimed that the arrest was a recent one and was perpetrated by a Yoruba man.
The caption reads, “In a disturbing incident, 37-year-old Yusuf Adenoyin was apprehended in Isua Akoko, Ondo State, by the Police Safer Highway Patrol. The shocking discovery of eight human skulls in his possession during a routine checkpoint search has left everyone speechless.”
As of Tuesday, July 1, 2025, the image had amassed 29 likes, 41 comments and four shares.
A review of the comment section reveals that most users accepted the credibility of the information and called for severe punishment for the victim.
“This is where the Yorubas have talent, ritual killing, skull mining, and harvest of organs,” Ben Chukwudi said.
Another Facebook user, Blue Whales, commented: “Yoruba and human ritual na 5&6.”
Meanwhile, Uwom Samuel wrote: “Kill him.”
The strained relationship between the two tribes on social media, which has led to the sharing of unverified information, made DUBAWA investigate this claim.
Verification
DUBAWA subjected the image to Google Reverse Image Search, leading us to several 2024 reports related to the incident shared by the Facebook user.
According to a Nigerian Tribune report in June 2024, Yusuf Adenoyin was arrested by the Nigerian Police, Ondo State Command, with eight human skulls in Isua Akoko, in Akoko South-East local government area of the state.
The report further detailed that the suspect ventured into the human skull business to be able to raise the sum of N2 million to pay for his sick mother’s treatment, who was in the hospital.
Other reputable media outlets, such as Punch, Vanguard, and The Nation, reported the same story in June 2024.
DUBAWA conducted a keyword search on Google to check if there had been a recent incident involving the same man or a different person with the same name. However, we found no recent incident of this nature.
Conclusion
Our investigation reveals that the claim is misleading. The image was not recent; it depicted an arrest made in June 2024.
