From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
The Ogun State Police Command has arrested one Nasiru and his wife, for allegedly attempting to use their seven-year-old daughter, Abibat, for rituals.
The duo, according to a release by the command’s spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi, yesterday, were arrested following a distress call from members of the public that a strange ‘luggage’ was sighted by the roadside at Asabala area, along Papalanto-Sagamu Road.
Upon receiving the information, the DPO of Owode-Egba, CSP Shehu Alao, led his men to the scene, where the luggage was found. Inside was a white sack in which the seven-year-old Abibat was found.
Oyeyemi added that one of the girl’s fingers on the right hand had been cut off, tied and also put inside the sack.
He said the police later learnt that the girl had been dumped at the roadside since last Friday.
Said he: “Having realised that the girl was still alive, she was quickly taken to the hospital for medical attention. It was when she regained consciousness that she informed the police that her father and step-mother were the ones who cut off one of her fingers, tied her, put her inside the sack and dumped her inside the bush for her to die there.
“Upon the information from the victim, a serious manhunt was launched for the father and his wife and they were arrested in the evening of Sunday. The duo are currently undergoing interrogation.”
Meanwhile, the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, has ordered the transfer of the case to the anti-kidnapping/cultism section for further investigation and prosecution of the suspects.