A 20-year-old woman, Ganiyat
Salawudeen, is currently in
police custody after she was
arrested for throwing her five-
month-old baby inside a well,
where she was residing in her
mother’s family house at Alagolo
area, Oja Oba, Ibadan
Nigerian tribune reports that,
Ganiyat threw the baby, whose
name was given as Timothy
Odugbemi, into the well at
about 8.30p.m on Monday
November 5, after which she
raised the alarm that she could
not find her baby.
After a search by family
members and neighbours,
which extended till the following
morning, Ganiyat was reported
to have confessed to throwing
the baby inside the well after
much prodding. People were
said to have rushed towards the
well to see if it was true and it
was a shocked crowd which
beheld the still body of the tot
when he was brought out of the
well.
On hearing about the incident,
the Divisional Crime Officer in
charge of Mapo Division, Mr
Bayo Ogundiran, reportedly led
a team of detectives to the scene
and arrested the mother, while
the baby was taken to Adeoyo
Hospital, Yemetu, where he was
confirmed dead. He was
thereafter deposited in the
mortuary for autopsy.
Ganiyat said she could not also
explain what made her throw
her baby in the well, expressing
the belief that forces greater
than her must have
overwhelmed her at that
moment.
Narrating how the incident
occurred, Ganiyat said:
“On that day, I bathed the baby
in the evening, changed his
clothes and we both went to
bed. About 8.30p.m, I rose from
the bed, carried the baby and
took him to the back of my
room window where the well is
situated”.
“A spirit just came over me and
asked me to throw the baby
inside the well. I pushed the
planks on the well aside, threw
the baby inside and covered it
again”.
After some time, I told the
tenant living in the house that I
could not see my baby. He said
he saw me moments before
with the baby. I left my
residence for my parents’ place
at Oniyanrin area and told my
mother that I could not find my
baby but she kept asking me
where I kept the child.
“The following morning, many
people came and were shouting
at me, asking me where I threw
the baby. An elderly man in our
family then came to me, cajoling
me to tell him where the baby
was. Then I told him that the
baby was in the well. While
some people rushed towards
the well, others started beating
me with horsewhip, cane and
different objects. When the baby
was brought out, he was already
dead. A police patrol van came
and I was taken to the police
station.”
Ganiyat, who said she was an
apprentice learning fashion
designing, disclosed that she
was impregnated by one
Kehinde Odugbemi, who was
already married, and that she
delivered the baby on June 4.
She added that the man could
not be traced until the day of
the naming ceremony when he
came in the evening to christen
the child. She said Odugbemi
also came on June 12 to give
her N1,000, adding that that was
the last time she set her eyes on
him.
Ganiyat was said to have given
birth to a boy before the birth of
the deceased baby but could
not get any man to claim the
child. The boy, who is said to be
three years old, is being taken
care of by Ganiyat’s mother.
Source: Nigerian Tribune
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