BENIN CITY, EDO STATE — A horrifying case of ritual infanticide has thrown the Ovia North-East Local Government Area of Edo State into mourning and outrage. A middle-aged woman has been arrested after she successfully threw her five-year-old disabled child into a local river, acting on the chilling directives of a rogue spiritualist.
Irate community members intercepted and apprehended the mother shortly after she committed the act at the riverbank.
According to field reports and footage circulating across local networks, the woman openly confessed to drowning her own child. She cited severe manipulation by a self-proclaimed “seer” based in Benin City.
The Confession: Miscarriages, Infertility, and False Prophecies
The minor had suffered from a severe physical disability and had been completely unable to walk since birth. Compounding the family’s desperation, the mother revealed that she had faced chronic secondary infertility, plagued by recurrent miscarriages ever since giving birth to the child.
Seeking an end to her reproductive struggles, she consulted a local spiritualist. Rather than receiving psychological or medical guidance, the woman was fed a deadly superstition.
“Every pregnancy was a miscarriage,” the woman stated in her filmed confession. “A seer told me to put my five-year-old child inside the river, and I’ll be able to give birth again. The seer said if I put my baby inside the river, it will turn into a python.”
The charlatan allegedly convinced the vulnerable mother that the disabled child was a spiritual snake blocking her womb and cursing her future fertility. Driven by desperation, the woman marched her helpless five-year-old to the water and threw the child in.
Community Apprehends Suspect Post-Incident
Vigilant youths and nearby residents noticed the woman’s highly erratic and suspicious movements near the riverbank. Upon rushing to the scene and realizing the child had already been plunged into the deep water, the community members moved swiftly to corner and detain the mother before she could flee.
A crowd quickly gathered, subjecting the woman to intense questioning. Locals expressed absolute horror that deep-seated traditional superstitions could drive a mother to execute her own offspring.
The Exploitation of Medical Ignorance
Public health advocates and child rights activists have strongly condemned the act, noting that the child’s inability to walk points directly to common congenital or neurological disorders—such as Cerebral Palsy or Spina Bifida—which are frequently misclassified as “water spirit” or “python” infestations in highly superstitious settings.
Furthermore, gynecologists emphasize that secondary infertility is a purely biological medical issue—often triggered by post-delivery infections, hormonal deficiencies, or fallopian tube blockages—entirely unrelated to the physical health or existence of an existing child.
The suspect has been handed over to law enforcement operatives for formal processing and a murder charge. Meanwhile, community leaders and human rights organizations are demanding an immediate manhunt, arrest, and prosecution of the fraudulent “seer” who orchestrated the child’s murder.
