Retired Brigadier-General Bashir Adewinmbi, the Osun Commander of the Amotekun Corps, said on Monday that an ex-offender had been detained while reportedly trying to kidnap an 8-year-old child.

In a statement, Adewinmbi said that the suspect, a resident of Lawole Compound Iresi town, was apprehended on Saturday at around 2:30 p.m. after being spotted by neighbors attempting to pull the girl away by force.

“The suspect tried to lure the girl with N50 who was sent on an errand by her mother, but later forcefully grabbed her and tried to take her away when the girl refused to collect the money from him.

“It was at the point of trying to drag the girl away that the girl raised alarm, attracting residents to what he was doing.

“Residents later chased after him, arrested him and called in Amotekun officers from Olorunda Local Government to take him away.

“During interrogation, the suspect confessed to the crime and added that he planned to use the girl for a money ritual if he had succeeded,” the commander said.

According to him, the suspect upon interrogation allegedly said had the girl collected the N50, “she woulbd have disappeared and re-appeared at his herbalist’s place in Ejigbo, where the ritual is expected to take place”.

Adewinmbi added that the suspect said he had been convicted before for robbery but now works as a block molder.

The commander who said the suspect had been handed over to the police for further investigation, admonished parents to be careful about the movement of their underage children and not allow them wander around without supervision.