A 20-month-old toddler, Opeyemi Ogundele, was on Sunday kidnapped in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
The toddler was attending his cousin’s naming ceremony at Mile 2, Iyana Concord, Korede Estate, Ilugun, Inuosegba community, located in Abeokuta North Local Government Area of the State.
The mother of the missing baby, Elizabeth Ogundele, said she was assisting her sister prepare for the new baby’s (the cousin) ceremony when she found that her child was no longer playing football with his peers.
She said she raised an alarm when she could not find him anywhere.
A search party was immediately raised, and in the course of the search, a suspected ritualist’s home which is a stone throw away from the venue of the ceremony, was searched. The search party found some fetish items and discovered a shrine located in one of the rooms.
The suspected ritualist was said not to be available when his home was searched.
An angry mob stormed the building, vandalised the house and recovered many of the fetish objects as well as masquerade regalia among others.
The police has been drafted to the area, to checkmate any possible looting of the building.
Photo of Opeyemi Ogundele
Photo of Opeyemi Ogundele
The Commissioner of Police, Abdulmojeed Ali, confirmed that he received reports of the missing child.
“I want to make it clear to the people of the state that I am here to work and to reduce crime and criminality to the barest minimum. We will not tolerate and allow the miscreants to continue to disturb us no matter their intention,” he said.
He said there was no correlation between the house of the ritualist, the ritualist and the missing child, and added that investigations into the kidnap has commenced.