A 55-year-old herbalist, Badmus Olusegun, is currently cooling his heels in a police cell at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba, of the Lagos State Police Command for alleged murder.
The police at the Ifako division arrested Olusegun for allegedly administering a poisonous concoction to a 25-year-old housewife, Zainab Agbaje, and her three-week-old pregnancy, which led to the death of the woman and her foetus.
According to a police report, obtained by SaharaReporters, the incident occurred on Monday, November 30, when the woman accosted Olusegun to assist her in getting rid of the pregnancy.
After administering concoction to the housewife to use, Zainab reportedly came back to their house on Moshalashi Street, Ifako Gbagada and developed stomach pains.
She was after that rushed to the General Hospital, Gbagada, where she confessed to her husband, Babatunde Agbaje, that she took concoctions from the herbalist and the drink went wild inside her.
SaharaReporters learnt that she became unconscious and was confirmed dead by a doctor at the hospital.
According to the police report, the husband, Babatunde, explained that his wife initially complained of stomach pains on Monday.
“I called a nurse to come and treat her at home. But the pain persisted. On Wednesday at about 4 am, my wife confessed to me that she was three weeks pregnant. She said that on Saturday, she went to one Olusegun, a herbalist who gave a native drug or agbo to drink to flush out the three weeks old pregnancy. She took the drugs on Monday,” the husband narrated.
The police report noted that the corpse had been deposited at the Gbagada General Hospital for an autopsy and the preliminary investigation was in progress.
The report reads, “At about 4.58 pm on Wednesday, one Babatunde Agbaje of Moshalashi Street, Ifako Gbagada, came to the charge room and reported that his wife, late Mrs Zainab Agbaje, aged 25years complained of stomach pain.
“On Saturday, she had gone to a herbalist who gave her a native drug to drink to flush out the pregnancy, which she took on Monday. The suspect has been arrested; detectives have visited the hospital, and the corpse has been deposited at Gbagada General Hospital for autopsy. Preliminary investigation is in progress. The case file and the suspect had been transferred to the SCID Panti, Yaba, for discreet investigation thereafter.”
