20-month-old baby disappears during naming in Ogun

Confusion enveloped Inukosegba area of Akorede Estate, Mile II in Abeokuta North Local Government Area of Ogun State, following the mysterious disappearance of a 20-month-old toddler, Opeyemi Ogundele, during a naming ceremony on Sunday afternoon. The disappearance of the child later resulted in the discovery of a suspected ritualists’ den in the area.
Vanguard gathered that the naming ceremony had to be aborted when the mother of the baby screamed over her missing baby boy.
It was also discovered that the suspected ritualists’ den is located opposite the house, where the aborted naming ceremony was scheduled to have taken place.
When Vanguard got to the scene, the owner of the three-bedroom bungalow with two detached rooms housing a ritualists’ den, which emitted putrid stench of decomposed human flesh, Chief Olasile Ifayemi, an Ifa priest and the Jagunmolu Elegun of Egba, was said to have taken to his heels.
Angry residents stormed the area and vandalised the building, claiming that severed human hands, a woman’s breast and intestines, and fetish objects were discovered inside the suspected ritualists’ den.
The place became a Mecca of sort as many of the youths at the scene displayed on their mobile phones photographs of the human parts allegedly recovered from the building.
Discovered in suspected ritualists’ den
The human parts were reportedly taken away by the police for forensic test......

Clothes, bras, pants and other apparels said to belong to women who might have been killed and used for rituals, and masquerade regalia, were also found inside the building.
Also found inside the den were children’s clothes, bags and women make-up kits said to belong to victims.
Fetish objects, including a human effigy made of wood, padlocks wrapped in black and white threads and assorted charms as well as other ritual items were also found in the den.
A detachment of armed policemen and men of the State Anti-Robbery Squad were stationed around the building.
Names of persons such as Seun, Damilola, Bose, Dupe, Esther and Toyin were written with white chalk on the outer wall of the two rooms housing a shrine.
Local clay pots containing some fetish substance were placed in front of each of the names written on the wall of the shrine.
Some residents alleged that the names were those of the persons who might have fallen victims to the alleged ritualists.
Angry youths threatened to set the building ablaze.
Mother’s story
Narrating her ordeal, mother of the missing toddler, Elizabeth Ogundele, explained that she had gone to the area on Sunday along with her child to attend her niece’s naming ceremony, but later discovered amid preparations for the event that her son had mysteriously disappeared.
The distraught 26-year-old mother said she had gone to celebrate the birth of a new-born baby with her brother, Olusola Osunleke, who resides in the area when the incident occurred.
She said: “I was helping my brother’s wife get ready for the ceremony when I noticed that my son had disappeared.
“I searched for him everywhere inside and around the house, because some tenants said they saw him earlier playing football. But all our efforts proved abortive as he was nowhere to be found.
“I then ran outside the house into the streets, still searching and that was when I encountered two persons at Chief Ifayemi’s house.
“I asked if they had seen my son, they denied and started giggling. So, I left them and continued to search for him.”
Ogundele stated that it was during the search for her missing son that the alleged ritualists’ den was discovered.
The mother of the toddler alleged that she “strongly” suspected the two occupants she met earlier, from who she had inquired the boy’s whereabouts.
Shedding tears, she pleaded with police and Nigerians to help her find her child, who would be one year and eight months tomorrow, to save her from her current agony.
Police story
While confirming the incident, the state Commissioner of Police, Abdulmajeed Ali, however, said there was no link between the disappearance of the toddler and the discovery of the alleged ritualists’ den.
Ali  assured that the police had commenced investigations on the matter and would make its findings public.
He said: “Actually, the two-year-old boy was kidnapped yesterday but the site that was discovered has no relationship with the boy and other human parts that were found at the site. Already, we have commenced investigation on the matter and we will let you know what really happened when we finish our investigations.”
-vanguardngr.