A trainee herbalist, Ifagbenga Taiwo, has been arrested by the police for allegedly slaughtering his 41-day-old son, Ifakorede Ajani, for ritual purposes in Keesi area of Adatan, Abeokuta, in Ogun State.
According to reports, the incident occurred on Monday, December 9, 2024, when the baby’s mother, Raimat Wasilat, laid him on a bed while washing clothes outside their home. Upon returning inside, she discovered her son’s lifeless body with a slit throat.
In a video obtained online, residents of the area narrated the gruesome incident. A neighbor explained, “I was hearing some noise, and we came to this house to check what was happening. It was when we entered the room that we realized someone had entered through the window and slit the throat of the baby.”
Another resident, Mukaila Olaide, identified as the father of the infant’s mother, stated, “We were sitting some distance away from the house when we heard a noise. It was the noise that led us to rush down to the house, only to discover that the boy had been slaughtered.”
The spokesperson of the Ogun State Police Command, Omolola Odutola, confirmed the incident in an interview with Punch on Tuesday. According to Odutola, the infant’s mother accused her husband of the gruesome murder, prompting the police to arrest him.
Odutola stated, “At about 1400hrs, the police received a report from the Iteesi Itoko area in Abeokuta regarding the slaughter of a two-month-old infant, Ifakorede Ajani, inside the room where his mother had placed him on a bed. The mother, Raimat Wasilat, from Keesi, strongly suspected her husband, Ifagbenga Taiwo, who is training to be a herbalist. She alleges that he intended to use the child’s blood for rituals.”
The police spokesperson further stated that the suspect has been detained, the crime scene was investigated, and the body was transported to the hospital for autopsy.
