Embattled Ogun herbalist: I never used my dead kids for ritual, but I can’t recall where I buried them

The mystery surrounding the death of two siblings allegedly in the hands of their father still continues. The man at the centre of the incident is denying his alleged involvement in his children’s deaths.

The 45-year-old Gbenga Ogunfadeke, was alleged to have detained his three children in a room and tortured them till his son and daughter died sometime in April and June, 2020.

The suspect was said to have chained and locked three of his four children in a solitary confinement, without food and water for over three months which led to the death of two of the siblings. But one of them miraculously survived the ordeal.

The man, who hails from Ibiade in Ogun Waterside Local Government Area of Ogun State, however, described the allegation that he killed his children as a lie and figment of the peddlers’ imagination.

Saturday Sun caught up with him and he maintained that he did not kill them.

The palm kernel farmer, who is also a herbalist, was arrested by the David Akinremi-led Ogun State Security Network Agency, popularly called the Amotekun Corps.

Adegbenga’s estranged wife, Busola Otusegun had reported him to the law enforcement agency following the strange circumstances leading to the death of two of their four children, who according to his ex-wife were Yusuf Ogunfadeke, 18, and Dasola Ogunfadeke, 17.

But the deceased’s father said the children that died were just nine and 12 years old at the time of their deaths in 2020.

They were said to have died between April and June, 2020 in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, where they were all living with the suspect until he relocated to Ibiade.

It was gathered that when the relationship with his wife broke down, he insisted on having the custody of their children. That was the situation until they died.

Speaking on the incident, he went spiritual, saying only a divine intervention would absolve him of all the allegations.

To make his matter worst, he could not lead the investigators to the particular spots he interred the remains of the deceased children.

According to him, a good ‘Samaritan’ buried his late children because of his state of health at the time of the incident, claiming he was on ‘sick bed’ that time.

“It was one Hausa Mallam that helped me bury my daughter. But it was one man from Delta that buried my son. When they were buried, a few trees were standing, but the trees have been uprooted and the bushes have been cleared,” he told the reporter.

He said the second child died shortly after the first. He said he took him to the hospital on a bike and deposited N1,000 for his treatment but he was not able to pay for blood transfusion. “If I was also not also, maybe I would have donated blood,” he said.

He said the doctor diagnosed his son of yellow fever and other ailments. He said as soon as the doctor on duty called to inform the hospital ‘s medical director that his son had died, his second wife assisted him to evacuate his corpse.

But the mother of the deceased would hear nothing of such, especially when the survivor of the ordeal, who was also locked in a room, (names withheld) is pointing fingers at his father. The boy had run to his maternal aunt after the death of his siblings and told his aunt about the incident.

According to the report, their father, who they have been staying with after years of separation from their mother, was in the habit of maltreating them.

Responding to this, the father denied the allegation. He said the deceased children fell ill, adding that his financial challenges hindered him from footing their medical bills.

He told Saturday Sun that his deceased children, nine and 12 years, respectively, succumbed to death following protracted illnesses.

According to him, “My two children took ill about two-and-a-half years ago. One died first, while the other died five months later. When their mother showed up about last March, and inquired about them, I told her that the other children were in school and that some had died.”

The man narrated that he was also sick and could not go out for about five months, about the time his children allegedly took ill.

He however claimed he took his sick daughter to a hospital at Ijebu-Ode, close to GRA for medical care.

Explaining the reasons for locking them at home, he told Saturday Sun that it was due to their wayward ways of life. According to him, he locked them at home to prevent them from running away from home and engaging in social vices.

He explained that most of the marks on the head of one of the children he locked up were sustained when he stole from various places.

He said sometimes in March, the son stole N5,000 from his grandmother, took it to school and was caught while spending the money. He said the officials of Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN) apprehended his children while they were committing crimes on many occasions and issued warnings to them regarding their behaviour.

“I was worried that they could run away again, and I didn’t have enough money. I was really broke. When I locked them in the house for three days, they begged me that they would be of good behaviour and I released them,” he stated.

Shortly after that, he said they fell sick and the worst happened. He claimed that neither their mother nor any of her relatives was aware of their sicknesses since they all lived far away from one another. He also said he failed to contact the children’s mother or any of her relatives at the time because he had lost his phone at the time. He said his estranged wife never visited the children for 10 years.

He said that when their mother heard several stories, she began instigating her other children to indict him over the death of their two children.

The suspect later said his nine-year-old daughter died at home and not at the hospital.

He said the girl died in the evening, and he had to crawl to the passage of the house to beg a Mallam, who is a wood cutter to help him bury her and was told she was buried at a particular spot, which he said he could no longer locate, adding that the places his children were buried had been further developed since the burial.

He told Saturday Sun: “We actually got there, but the sands have been washed away, the bushes have been cleared, and bathrooms have been built around there. In fact, all through the period, we were digging the area, I had not eaten for about four days and I didn’t have much stamina to dig.”

Saturday Sun asked the suspect about those who came to sympathise with him over the tragic incidents, but the herbalist said he did not allow anyone to know what he was passing through.

When confronted with the Corps’ position that the officials could not trace any hospital he claimed he took his child to, he maintained that he was saying the truth.

He said his son who is now accusing him of killing his siblings was aware his son and daughter were buried at the back of the house. He said the boy was in the house at the time and was quite aware that his siblings were gravely ill before they passed on.

He said after his financial status became worse, he had to return to his home. He said he regretted that he did not take the remains of his deceased children back to his home town.

He said insinuations that he used his children’s body parts for ritual purposes were unfounded.

He said though he is a herbalist, the tenets of his profession do not allow him to sacrifice anyone for money ritual.

He also denied involvement in any money making ritual. “If I engaged in money rituals, how come I am not a rich man,” he wondered.

He said he deals in herbal medicines for all kinds of problems, but lamented that he was unable to heal his own children. He said he lacked the financial wherewithal to care for his children’s medical treatment until the cold hands of death snatched them.

For now, the security agencies have begun investigations into the incident. But the huge task is locating the sites where the children were buried and so as to exhume their bodies. This will enable a medical examination of their bodies to determine the actual cause of their deaths.