Man stabs son Favour over theft, abandons him to die

A 30-year-old man, Joshua Oyapidan, who stabbed his 12-year-old son, Favour, in the neck and stomach, then abandoned him in a bush in Ogun State, told newsmen that the boy had been a source of pain to him.

Oyapidan, who spoke with newsmen after he was paraded by the Ogun State Police Command in Abeokuta yesterday, said Favour always stole and ran away from home for days.

The suspect, who lives at Abule Agbon in Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area, was accused of butchering his son, after he lured him into the bush near President Muhammadu Buhari Estate along Siun-Sagamu-Abeokuta Expressway.

Vanguard gathered that the victim, who had been living with his father, step-mother and her two children, was abandoned by his father after the stabbings, when he pretended to be dead.

It was further gathered that Favour later crawled out of the bush and was rescued by a good Samaritan, who took him to the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta.

The suspect, who looked remorseful, said he never knew what came over him on the fateful day.

He said: “I had Favour while I was in Adeoye Lambo Memorial High School, Obada Oko. I never got married to his mother, because we were both young.

“On that fateful day, I returned from my Okada work, and my neighbour told me my son stole corn and bought some things in the name of my neighbour. So I decided to deal with him.

“I hid a kitchen knife in my pocket and I told him I was taking him to a new place where he will be living. But on the way, I stabbed him in the neck and stomach, and we both fell into a ditch.

“He was bleeding, so I used cloth to bind the wound in his stomach, left him there and went back home. I regret my action, because I never knew what came upon me that fateful day. I beg for mercy from all Nigerians.”

Oyapidan said his wife, Adeola, had deserted him because of his action.

Parading the suspect, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the state Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, had directed that the suspect be charged to court after the completion of investigation.

Oyeyemi said the suspect will be charged for attempted murder, warning parents to be mindful of the law, while dealing with their children.