Operatives of the Ogun security network (Amotekun Corps) have arrested a 45-year-old man, Gbenga Ogunfadeke, for chaining and locking his two children in solitary confinement, which led to their death.

David Akinremi, Amotekun commander, disclosed this in a statement issued in Abeokuta.

The statement revealed that the suspect was arrested on Tuesday in Ibiade, Ogun Waterside council area. He said the suspect was arrested following a complaint by his ex-wife.

The suspect, a father of three, accused his children of stealing, said the Amotekun statement. It said the suspect was alleged to have chained and locked the children in solitary confinement without food and water for over three months, leading to the death of two children.

The statement also noted that the suspect had been maltreating the children, aged 16, 17 and 18, since he took custody of them following his crashed marriage with their mother, Busola Otusegun.

“One of the three children came across his aunt in Ibiade, where he currently lives with his father (suspect), and narrated their experience with their father, which led to the death of his two elder siblings, Yusuf Ogunfadeke, 18, and Dasola Ogunfadeke, 17. It happened between April and June 2022 in Ijebu-Ode, where they were all living with the suspect until he relocated back to Ibiade,” said Amotekun in its statement.

According to the child, their father chained and locked them in solitary confinement without food and water for over three months, leading to the death of the two siblings, but he miraculously survived the ordeal.

The suspect, when interrogated, admitted to the alleged confinement of the children for months but denied not feeding them and being responsible for their death. He admitted to punishing them for stealing.

He added that the suspect claimed that his two deceased children were taken to the hospital for treatment at different times when they fell ill but unfortunately died in the process.

“What is, however, curious about his defence is that the hospital where he claimed the two children died in Ijebu-Ode could neither be located. Where he allegedly buried them behind a rented apartment he lived in Ijebu-Ode before relocating to his present abode in Ibiade with the third child could also not be traced for possible exhumation,” the security network said.

The Amotekun statement added, “The fact that he refused to make the incidents known to any member of the family also gives cause for concern, more so when the suspect is a herbalist, thus further fuelling the suspicion of having killed the deceased for possible rituals.”

The Amotekun commander said the case had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation to establish facts to facilitate his prosecution. 

(NAN)