A herbalist, Samson Ogundele, has been arrested by men of the Ogun State Police Command for allegedly raping a teenager during consultation over missing N1,000.
The suspect, a resident of Referefu, Oja-Odan, in the Yewa-North Local Government Area of the state, was arrested last Wednesday for allegedly raping the girl and attempting to violate another woman who went with seven others to his house for consultation.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, who disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, said Ogundele was arrested following a report lodged at the Oja-Odan divisional headquarters by one of the victims.
He explained that the victim reported that a sum of N1,000 was missing among nine hairdressing apprentices and they decided to seek a traditional way to unravel the thief.
Efforts to get the missing N1,000 made all the nine apprentices in the shop consult the herbalist to know who stole the money among them.
He said, “On getting to the herbalist, he started calling them into a room one after the other after collecting N700 from them.
“The complainant stated further that the first and second persons entered and came out, and when it was her turn, she entered and the herbalist tried to rape her.
“Upon her complaint, the DPO Oja-Odan division, CSP Gabriel Ikechukwu, detailed his detectives to go after the suspect and he was arrested.
“It was while interrogating him that one of the girls, who is 17 years old, confessed that the herbalist already had carnal knowledge of her when she met him at the consulting room.
“She stated further that the herbalist threatened that she would die if she informed anybody.
“The victim was immediately taken to the General Hospital, Oja-Odan, where a doctor on duty confirmed that the girl had been defiled.
“The herbalist himself has confessed to the commission of the crime.”
The PPRO said the state Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, had directed that the suspect be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation and prosecution.
