By Ola Ajayi

Why would a mother throw her seven-month old baby into the well, to die? Could it have been as a result of insanity? Or was she was acting under a spell from her estranged husband as she alleged? These are the posers the police in Oyo State are set to unravel after a baby was found stone dead in a well in Olomi area of Ibadan, the state capital.

This hard-to-believe  incident happened  in an Imam’s house where Bose, 23, lives with her maternal grandfather when she relocated  to Ibadan  four  weeks ago. Bose,  claiming to be under a spell from  her husband,  concluded around 8p.m. and dropped  the  baby girl into the well.

She would have probably feigned ignorance if the neighbours had not seen her at the time she allegedly  committed  the crime.

One of the neighbours raised the  alarm but before any help could reach the  hapless  baby, the deed had been done. She was stone dead.

The  men of the Oyo State police Command have arrested  the suspect in connection with  the murder.

The suspect

Though  she did not  manifest  any sign of insanity, she said she must have been influenced by a spell from her husband with whom she  reportedly had disagreement over her relocation to Ibadan.

The husband (name withheld), who  hails  from Ijebu  Ode, Ogun State, was said to have  had  a quarrel with Bose after she bluntly refused to return  to Lagos.

CONFESSION
ASP Femi  Okanlawon, the police spokesman,  confirmed  the suspect’s arrest,  saying it was a man that reported the incident at Sanyo Police Station.

The suspect confessed to the  alleged crime but claimed she was unconscious when  she did it.

REFUSAL TO HEED  WARNING
She narrated how she had a quarrel with her husband after disagreeing with him to go with him to Lagos, adding that the man then  said she should be ready to take full responsibility  for her refusal. One thing led to the other and she suddenly picked the baby and threw her into the well.

Okanlawon  said, “The suspect confessed to the  murder  but claimed she was unconscious when the crime was being committed”.

The police official quoted the suspect as saying she did not know what came upon her after disagreeing with her husband who insisted that she should go with him to Lagos.

The woman said the man then threatened that she should be ready to take full responsibility  for her refusal to follow him.

‘WHY I THREW BABY INTO THE WELL’
While speaking with Sunday Vanguard, the suspect  said, “I am 23 years old. I  married  my husband seven years ago and we have three girls. The first child is  six,  the second girl,  three  and the last one that was killed  seven  months.

“I got to Ibadan three  (now four) weeks ago. I had a quarrel with my husband  in  Lagos. That  is why I relocated to Ibadan. I am living with my mother’s father. My husband came to me and said we should go to Lagos, but I refused. He then said he would show me. That night the incident happened, he called me to ask if nothing had happened. And I told him nothing happened. I regret my action. It was when my neighbours raised  the alarm that the enormity of what I did came upon me. I beg government to forgive me and show mercy.”

The Divisional Police Officer, CSP Ezebuike Ugochukwu, who also confirmed the story, seemed not satisfied with the claim of the woman about the age of the baby. He  noted  that the dead baby looked older than the age  claimed by  the woman.

However, he concluded that since she is the mother of the baby, it may be out of place to fault her claim.