Matthew Onocheta
OGUN, Nigeria – One Ogidan Mustapha has been arrested for allegedly dismembering the hands of his neighbour’s dead 13-year-old child in Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun State, South-West Nigeria, police said on Friday.
Mustapha was arrested at about 1:30 am on Friday while trying to dump the body of the deceased near Igbosoro River in Igode village.
The remains of the deceased, identified as Oriyomi Adegboyega, were wrapped with a mat, according to local reports.
Spokeswoman for the Ogun State Police Command, Omolola Odutola, said the arrest followed intelligence from a sister security agency.
Odutola noted that three other suspects were also arrested for assisting in digging the grave.
The police spokeswoman said that the mother of the deceased, Peace Adegboyega, when contacted, informed the command that her daughter had died of electrocution at around 10:20 am on Thursday.
Mrs Adegboyega was shocked to learn that their neighbour Ogidan had been found with her daughter’s dismembered corpse, adding that plans were in place to bury the deceased.
The police spokeswoman added that on searching the house of the suspect, two English pump action rifles and different local charms were found.
“An intelligence source from a sister security agency alerted the divisional police officer of Igode that on the 20th of September 2024, at about 0130hrs at past midnight, they trailed a suspicious movement to a bush around Igbosoro River in Igode village and caught one Ogidan Mustapha as he dumped a corpse,” she said.
“At a close glance, the vigilante operatives examined the corpses wrapped in a mat and discovered it was a young girl’s remains whose two hands had been amputated and dumped near the river.
“After careful observation, the identity of the deceased was revealed as one Oriyomi Adegboyega, a 13-year-old female.”
“The suspect denied the amputation of the 13-year-old girl, but he admitted that the girl’s father, one Sunday Adegboyega, 56, requested him to assist in burying the deceased far away from home, but he carried the corpse with a complete body from the father’s compound,” Odutola said.
She noted that the suspects had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation and likely prosecution.