A suspected ritualist, yesterday, beheaded a two‑year‑old boy and raped his mother in a bush in Ofada town in Obafemi‑Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The suspect, Momodu Bashir Ibrahim, was said to have trailed the mother, who had her boy strapped on her back, as she went to ease herself in a bush in the area.
An eye witness told Vanguard that the victim went into a nearby bush to ease herself, not suspecting that she was being trailed.
According to the source, the suspect suddenly pounced on the woman, dragged her along with her baby into an uncompleted building and raped her.
“The suspect after raping the woman, stabbed her and killed the boy before he severed his head.
“Luckily, someone, who suspected the suspect’s movement, trailed him to the building but escaped and was able to rescue the woman with the headless body of the boy,” the source said.
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi said the suspect was arrested through the help of some community leaders after he fled the area to Ibafo after committing the crime.
Adejobi added that further interrogation of the suspect revealed that he had sold the head of the boy to a woman in Ibadan, adding that the detectives from the state police command was on the trail of the suspected buyer and that the command had commenced investigation into the matter.
The suspect led men from the Criminal Investigation Department of the state police command to the scene and the knife with which he perpetrated the act was the only item found at the scene.
Speaking at the scene of the crime which was smeared with blood, the suspect confessed to have raped the woman, killed her son and severed his head which he said he had thrown away into the bush.
He also informed the detectives that there was a woman in Ibadan whom he was working with.
Efforts by the detectives to recover the head of the boy at the scene of the crime, as claimed by the suspect, proved abortive and an attempt to lynch him by the people of the area was prevented by the police.
It was learnt that the remains of the boy has been buried while the mother was responding to treatment in the hospital.
