Ekiti State government on Friday appreciated and rewarded a herbalist, Adesua Ifafemi, for his role in the arrest of a 23-year-old boy who wanted to use his sister’s six-year-old son for ritual.

Saturday Tribune gathered that the suspect identified as Solomon Fabiyi was arrested by men of the state police command Friday last week after a tip-off by the herbalist.

The suspect is said to be a student of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, and had stopped his education in the past after struggling to pay his fees.

Fabiyi, who took the teenager to the herbalist’s residence in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, for the ritual, revealed that he was told his nephew won’t die but only fall sick for a period of time for him to get the money.

He added that he had decided to be responsible for the boy’s education and other commitments if he got rich.

Investigations revealed that the herbalist, after seeing the desperation of the boy, raised the alarm and called the police for his arrest.

The boy said, “I was born and brought up in Ekiti state. I went to the herbalist to do a money ritual. I brought the six-year-old boy for him to be used because I was told he won’t die but will only feel sick and be fine later.

“I promised him that I will sponsor his education and do everything for him when I get rich. The boy is my sister’s son and we stayed together in Ado-Ekiti but they didn’t know what I planned to do with the boy.”

Speaking on Friday during a meeting with the herbalist, the Director General, Bureau of Community Communications, Mrs. Mary Oso-Omotosho, said the governor, Biodun Oyebanji, was impressed with the actions of the herbalist in calling the attention of the police to the boy’s criminal act.

Oso-Omotosho, who rewarded the traditionalist with N250,000 on behalf of the governor, appealed to other practitioners in the state “to toll the dignified line of Adesua Ifafemi in rescuing the teenager and arresting the suspect.”

She commended the police command, especially the commander of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Marcus Ogundola, for in answering the call of the herbalist in arresting the suspect.

Addressing the traditionalist, the DG said, “The state government recognises the heroic step that you have taken, compared to what we have been hearing in other states especially as it relates to using people for rituals.

“You have made us proud as a state by taking that step, even though before now, we had been having discussions with associations of traditionalists in curbing this ugly trend of ritualists in the state.

“So, the governor, Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji, asked us to appreciate and celebrate you for not doing the wish of the boy in using the child for rituals. Your action is what we are known for in Ekiti, the Omoluwabi traits.

“This will pass a strong message to others and we want them (traditionalists) to see it as something that is very dignifying in helping to sanitize the society.”

Narrating the incident to Saturday Tribune, the traditionalist said the boy informed him that he had gone to six places outside the state for the rituals but couldn’t do it due to high prices being demanded by those herbalists.

He added that he observed that the suspect was so desperate to the extent that he had sold his android phone to raise money for the consultations he had made in the past.

Ifafemi said, “The boy came very early Friday last week that he wanted to do rituals to get rich and he was told to come back; that I was still sleeping. He met my associates.

“When I woke up, luckily, he dropped his phone number and I asked him to come. So, when he arrived and I engaged him, I could see clearly that he was desperate and anxious for it.

“He told me he had been to six different places outside Ekiti; that he couldn’t do it because the amount of money they were demanding was much and I promised him that I would do it for him free.

“I asked him, he said he would bring a six-year-old boy for the rituals and I said he should come with the boy by 1 p.m. and that he should not touch or do anything to the small boy.

“So, before the agreed 1 p.m., I got in touch with a relative in police who linked me up with the operatives in Ekiti and I went there to narrate the situation. It was at the police station that he called me that he was in my place as agreed.

“Upon returning home, I saw him with the six-year-old boy and he was ready. At that point, I called the police and he was arrested. He lives with his parents and, in fact, his father is a pastor.”

He advised other traditionalists practising in the state to desist from habits capable of encouraging young people going into the disturbing trends of rituals and other criminal acts in the society.

He argued that since 1999 that he had been practising after his father died, he had never be engaged in acts inimical or against the dictates of the Ifa oracle.

A source close to the family informed Saturday Tribune that the suspect said he heard a strange voice that he would only be rich if he could use his parents for ritual.

The source said, “In the past, he struggled to pay his school fees in FUOYE and deferred his education until he returned to the university recently after someone raised the money for him.

“The boy said he heard a voice telling him in the past to use his parents if he wanted to get rich but he said didn’t listen to the voice or do as instructed.

“But this time, he went to the herbalist and said he was ready to use the six-year-old nephew.

“After seeing the suspect with the boy in his residence, the herbalist quickly called the police for his arrest.

“In all of these, parents should be up and doing as regards their children for them not to be drafted into unwholesome acts because a lot is happening around us daily.”

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Ekiti command, SP Sunday Abutu, confirmed the arrest of the 23-year-old man following a tip-off by the herbalist.

“He was arrested by our operatives on Friday, 14th February, 2025, at about 19:00hrs through a tip-off while he was on the verge of using his nephew for a money ritual. The suspects, his parents and the victim all reside together around Goshen Avenue, Adebayo, Ado-Ekiti.

“He confessed to the commission of the crime.”

The PPRO revealed that the suspect had been arraigned before an Ado-Ekiti Magistrate’s Court for attempted murder and had since been remanded in prison while the case was adjourned to a later date. (Saturday Tribune)