Benin: Haunted by the spirit of his deceased brother, a farmer turns himself in to the police
A strange event has shaken the community of Pabégou, in the municipality of Copargo, northwestern Benin. An farmer voluntarily turned himself in to the police to confess that he had committed an especially reprehensible act: desecration of the grave of his older brother in order to create a talisman.
Véhicule de la police républicaine .
@Présidence du Bénin
According to information gathered from the police by Banouto, the man stated that he dug up the skull of his deceased brother, who was buried in Yaoura, a village in the Copargo district. His motive: a ritual recommended by a charlatan to improve the yield of his yam crop.
According to his own statements, the farmer had consulted, in February 2025, a diviner in the Pabégou district. This person prescribed a ritual requiring a human skull, which was supposedly a prerequisite for an amulet supposed to guarantee a bountiful harvest. Determined to acquire this talisman, the farmer exhumed his brother’s remains and handed the skull over to the charlatan.
Once the ritual was carried out, the cultivator received a black powder that he was supposed to consume for three days. But far from the expected results, he claimed to have been plunged into a state of torment. Haunted by nightmares and unable to sleep at home, he went back to consult with the charlatan, with no success.
Besieged by fear and despair, the man finally decided to reveal everything to the authorities. Following his report, the police opened an investigation which took place from Wednesday, July 16th to Saturday, July 19th, 2025. This led to the arrest of the implicated charlatan and a third person involved.
During the searches, the police seized several items from the diviner, including the remainder of the skull, 4.90 kg of Indian hemp, a homemade pistol, talismans, a piece of bone, a piece of alligator skin, and a porcupine quill.
The three individuals will have to answer in court for charges of grave desecration, charlatanism practices, and possession of prohibited substances. Additional charges may be considered, given the items discovered during the investigations.