A young man known as Taiwo Akinola, has been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly attempting to use his mother, Alice Akinola for money rituals. Taiwo is also a suspected cult member.
Operatives of the command reportedly arrested the suspect on Raji Ajanaku Street, Alaja Road, Ayobo, Lagos, where the incident happened.
It was gathered that around 8.30am on Sunday, the 29-year-old battered his mother after he called her to meet him inside the house for a discussion.
The police, in a statement on Monday by the Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Chike Oti, said in order to carry out his plan, Taiwo sent his 14-year-old nephew, Faruk, to get him a white handkerchief and a cigarette.
He added that as soon as the victim (Alice) entered the house, the suspect attacked her, hitting her on the head with a plank, a pressing iron and a USB charger.
Oti also said Faruk raised the alarm upon seeing his grandmother in a pool of blood, adding that officers from the Ayobo Police Station were mobilised to the scene to arrest the suspect.
He added that the victim (Alice) was rushed to a hospital where doctors were still battling to save her life.
The PPRO said, “When Faruk returned from the errand, he did not see his grandmother in the shop; so he went into the house only to see the poor woman in a pool of blood. Shocked by what he saw, the small boy raised the alarm which attracted neighbours to the scene.
“They called the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Ayobo Division who arrested the suspect and secured the scene for further investigation by the police forensic experts attached to the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba.
“The victim was rushed to an undisclosed hospital for treatment and is hanging to life. Right now, the doctors are battling to revive Mrs Alice Akinola who is unconscious. Meanwhile, the CP has paid the initial hospital cost which enabled the doctors to commence treatment.”
Oti said the suspect, during interrogation, said he was asked to kill his mother in order to have more money.
He noted that when the suspect’s room was searched, the police recovered two calabashes, with one containing a skull; a mixture of dark concoction; a plank perforated with nails and stained with blood; a pressing iron stained with blood; a white handkerchief with which he allegedly wanted to scoop the victim’s blood; a bottle containing oil and labelled ‘Back To Sender.’
