Herbalists Strip Woman, Kill Husband, Friend

The police in Ogun State have arrested two herbalists,
identified simply as Quadri and Adam, for allegedly
stabbing a man, Wasiu Balogun, and his friend, Wale
Aderinto, to death in the Agbado area of the state.
Our correspondent learnt that the herbalists, who are
siblings, allegedly attacked Wasiu and his friend with
knives for confronting them after they allegedly stripped
Wasiu’s wife, Mutiat.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the incident occurred at about
7pm on Owonikoko Street last Tuesday.
Our correspondent learnt that on the day, a teenage girl,
Kabirat, who is the younger sister of the herbalists, had
come to Mutiat’s house, and the woman had scolded her
for failing to greet the people she (Kabirat) met in the
house.
Kabirat was said to have left the place in anger.
It was gathered that Adam and Quadri, came some
minutes later to Mutiat’s house, and started a quarrel,
during which they allegedly stripped the woman and beat
her up.
PUNCH Metro learnt that neighbours tried to mediate, but
the herbalists allegedly threatened to beat anyone, who
intervened, with charms.
Thirty-eight-year-old Wasiu, who worked as a vulcaniser,
and his friend, Aderinto, a welder, reportedly came back
from their workplaces in the Ebute-Meta area of Lagos
State, and met distraught Mutiat at home.
The two were said to have headed for the herbalists’ house
after they were told of what transpired between Mutiat and
the herbalists.
Our correspondent gathered that on getting to house,
matters degenerated, which led to the herbalists stabbing
Wasiu and Aderinto to death.
It was learnt that the neighbours reported the incident at
the Agbado Police Division.
The herbalists were subsequently arrested and detained.
When our correspondent visited the area on Monday, Mutiat
said everybody scolded Kabirat for failing to greet anyone,
but she went to her house to tell her brothers another
story.
Mutiat added that the suspects stabbed Wasiu and his
friend to death with poisonous knives.
She said, “There was no fight on that Tuesday. The girl
came to our house and ignored everybody. People in the
house scolded her for it.
“When the girl left, her brothers came some minutes later.
They are herbalists. Their father is also a native doctor.
They came with charms and knives. They beat me up.
They stripped me. Neighbours tried to restrain them, but
they threatened them.
“When my husband and his friend came back from work, he
was angry and he went to their house. They attacked him
and his friend with knives. They were both stabbed to
death.”
There was no one to talk to PUNCH Metro at the
herbalists’ apartment as both suspects had been moved
from the Agbado division to the Ogun State Police
Command headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta.
The teenage girl, Kabirat, had also reportedly fled the area.
A neighbour, identified only as Olumide, said the suspects
were notorious in the area for violence.
He said, “The suspects’ family worships Osanyin. They
were involved in a similar violence sometime last year, but
they were pardoned. The man and his friend had gone to
talk to them for manhandling his wife.
“The herbalists first attacked the friend, and when Wasiu
held them, they stabbed him too. It was one of us who
reported the matter at the police station. Wasiu had five
children from his first wife, but I don’t know how many
children Mutiat has for him.”
The Ogun State acting Police Public Relations Officer, ASP
Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed the arrest.
He added that investigation was ongoing into the matter at
the state command headquarters, Abeokuta.