The discovery of the headless and limbless boy – believed to be aged between four and seven and known by the

The discovery of the headless and limbless boy – believed to be aged between four and seven and known by the police as Adam – has led to an extraordinarily difficult inquiry that has included a plea for help from Nelson Mandela. The case was branded as practically insoluble by the FBI.More than 200 officers from the Metropolitan Police raided nine homes in London early yesterday morning and arrested 21 people, most of whom are thought to have come from the region of Nigeria where Adam was snatched. Police believe that several of the properties were safe houses used by the traffickers to accommodate smuggled Africans – including children – before moving them on.The arrests follow intelligence uncovered by detectives investigating the Adam murder. Police believe members of the people-smuggling gang could be directly involved in the murder. Several people took part in the killing and an African “witchdoctor” who was skilled in ritual murder may have been hired to cut up the boy.Examination of the remains by scientists found that the boy had been fed a potion of bone, clay and gold.

The material seized in the raids included quantities of bone, some powdered, which will be examined to discover whether they match the substance found in Adam’s stomach.Having previously failed to establish the origin of the bone in the boy’s stomach, Scotland Yard has turned to the US authorities who have been sifting through the wreckage of the 11 September attacks on New York. In part because the families of victims did not want their loved ones to be buried with the remains of the terrorists, the American scientists have been sorting through the bones found at the site and have built up a huge database.The discovery of the boy’s body, wearing only a pair of girl’s orange shorts, has led to an international police inquiry that has extended the boundaries of detective work.Detective Inspector Will O’Reilly, who is leading the Adam inquiry, said: “At the beginning, when we went to the FBI for help, they said the murder was nigh on insoluble The only clue we had was the shorts There were no witnesses. We didn’t know who he was or where he was killed.”Through a series of pioneering forensic science inquiries, the police managed to piece together much of the mystery. Pollen recovered in the boy’s stomach showed he was alive when he arrived in London and stayed there for several days before being murdered.From tests on mineral levels in the boy’s bones, forensic scientists were able to establish that Adam spent his life in a 100-mile stretch of land in Nigeria, near Benin City in the south-west of the country, before he was brought to Britain.The big breakthrough for the Adam inquiry came when Scottish social services contacted Scotland Yard and told police that one of their clients, a west African woman, had said she wanted to perform a ritual with her children.Scotland Yard officers visited Joyce Osagiede a year ago at her home in Glasgow and arrested her when they discovered girl’s clothing that was the same size and brand as the shorts found on Adam. The clothing was only available in Germany and they discovered that she had been living in that country before moving to Britain with her children. She was not charged and later returned to Nigeria.Earlier this month, detectives traced the woman’s estranged husband, Sam Onojhighovie, 37, a Nigerian He was arrested in Dublin in connection with Adam’s death.

Officers believe he could be Adam’s biological father.He is facing extradition to Germany, where he has already been convicted in his absence and sentenced to seven years for offences linked to human trafficking. At the same time, police had intelligence about a suspected trafficking gang linked to the two suspects. This led to yesterday’s operation in London.After the raids, Det Insp O’Reilly said: “We are pretty confident that we have a group of individuals who could have trafficked Adam into the country.” Asked about the motivation for a ritualistic murder, he replied: “In west Africa there are several reasons for human sacrifices – for power, money, or to protect a criminal enterprise.”A police source added: “We believe the prime motive for the murder was to bring good fortune. Some were also linked to two people previously arrested in Ireland and Scotland.Det Insp O’Reilly said some “interesting substances” were recovered from one of the addresses in east London, including soils and clay, as well as an animal skull wrapped in a fibrous substance, and with a nail through it.