A 33-year-old man, Blessing Gabriel, who allegedly killed his 20-month-old son in his quest to get rich quickly through rituals, has said that he was driven to the act by poverty, Nigerian Tribune reports.
Gabriel was arrested after his wife, Success, kept asking him on the whereabouts of the child but got no tangible response, went to report him to the police in Delta State over fears that something could have happened to her son.
Before the report, the Nigerian Tribune learnt that the woman, living in Benin City, Edo State, was told by her husband that the child had been taken to his sister in Warri due to her persistence.
Quickly, she boarded a bus to Warri to be sure that her child was okay, but her heart started thumping when she was told that her child was not with them in her in-law’s house.
On giving the information to the police, the commander of Quick Response Squad immediately detailed his men to commence investigation which led to the arrest of the suspect.
After his transfer to the Divisional Police Officer in the ‘A’ Division, the suspect was said to have confessed to the crime as he was being interrogated.
According to the Police Public Relations Officer in the command, DSP Bright Edafe, “upon interrogation, the suspect confessed to have murdered the said child at Ewabogun bush by Catholic Road, Benin City, using hand saw to cut off the head.”
Gabriel reportedly buried the child’s head by a palm tree in the bush and threw away his headless body.
“The suspect also stated that he actually killed the child because of a dream he had, where he saw a man who told him that if he killed the child and used his blood to rub his head, he would become rich,” the PPRO added.
But Gabriel, in further confession, said that in addition to the dream, he was advised by a friend, whose name he gave as Ikechukwu, to commit the crime in order to be rich.
In an interview, the suspect said: “I’m from Edo State, married and blessed with two children – a six-year-old girl and the boy I killed. I’m into POP fixing in buildings.”
“Why I was arrested was that I seized my son from his mother. It was my friend, Ikechukwu, who asked me to kill my son. I carried out the act at a spot on Ewabogun Street, close to a Catholic Church. I went there with my son. I did it in the morning between 8 and 9am. I used hand saw to cut off the head. I threw my son’s body in the bush and buried the head.”
“It was Ikechukwu who told me to do everything I did. He was a POP man and was the one who told me to do the act so that the road would be opened to me to get wealth. No juju man told me to do so.”
“Also, in a dream, I saw one old man. He told me: ‘my son, you are all alone suffering. No one is helping you. Your woman will just be giving you headache because of money. Just use your son to start your wealth. Don’t take him anywhere. Just sacrifice him so that things will be okay for you.”
Before the act, Gabriel said that he walked through a place at Ring Road. He added, “The gate was opened and I was asked what brought me there. I saw the statue of a woman put at the middle of the road while those at a short distance were praying in a traditional way. I told them that I learnt a vocation but there was no job to do. I told them that I had been living in a room for many years. I’ve been suffering. They asked me to kneel down and as I did and prayed, I was given two native chalks. I was told that on getting home, I should grind them and add salt to the powder. I was further told that I should remove my shirt the following morning, make incantations before using it.”
Nigerian Tribune learnt that the suspect would be transferred to the Edo State Police Command for further investigation since the crime was committed there.
