The Ogun State Police Command has arrested a renowned herbalist, Lajuwon Ogunleye, his wife Adetutu Apalaya, and Fatai Sefiu, for allegedly using a seven-year-old boy for rituals.
The suspects were picked on April 22, for the death of Pelumi Apalaya for alleged ritual purposes.
Ogun state police public relations officer, DSP Abimbola Onyeyemi, said:
” The suspects were arrested following information received by the police at Abigi divisional headquarters that the seven-year-old- boy who didn’t show any sign of sickness suddenly slumped and died and this arouse the suspicion of people around that the boy might have been used for ritual.
“Upon their suspicion, the people started monitoring the herbalist who incidentally happened to be the stepfather of the boy and his wife who is the mother of the boy. Unknown to them, they were monitored to the bush where they took the victim to for burial in company with the third suspect who is a friend to the herbalist. They buried the boy in an upright position after removing some parts from his body. This confirmed the suspicion of the people and they quickly informed the police.
” Upon the information, the divisional police officer, Abigail Station, SP Tarkighir Joseph, led his men to the bush in the Iwopin area of ijebu waterside, where the suspects were rounded up. They led policemen to where the victim was buried and it was discovered that the deceased was buried in standing position.
“On interrogation, the second suspect, Sefiu, told detectives that the boy was actually used for ritual by the stepfather in connivance with the deceased boy’s mother. He stated further that the couple has reached a conclusion before he was invited into the business. “The mother of the victim Adetutu, who first denied having knowledge of her husband’s plan to use her son for the ritual was dumbfounded when asked whether or not she followed them to the bush where her son was buried and the mode of the burial of the boy.
“Meanwhile, the commissioner of police CP Kenneth Ebrimson has ordered the immediate transfer of the case to the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for further investigation and prosecution”,
Oyeyemi ,concluded.
