31st August, 2023
By Olajide Idowu/Joshua Oladipo
Police operatives in Osun Police Command are on manhunt for the owner of an Alsatian dog which mauled a five-month-old baby to death at Hallelujah Estate, Osogbo, the state capital on Wednesday.
Spokesperson for the Osun Police Command Mr Adekola Timothy said this while confirming the incident.
Timothy who is the Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Osun command said, “Yes, the incident happened and the police are currently searching for the owner of the dog,” he said .
While narrating his the dog jumped at the baby that was on her back and proceeded to maul her to death, the mother of the baby, Mrs Nafisat Muideen, regretted that the toddler would have been saved if there was prompt response.
The 28-year-old mother who spoke at her residence on Thursday in Osogbo explained that she was attacked at about 1.45p.m on her way to a pharmacy shop to buy drugs for the sick daughter.
According to her, on her way to the pharmacy shop, she heard a sound from behind and immediately she turned back, the dog jumped on her and attacked the baby trapped in her back.
She said the dog pulled the baby from her back and while she was trying to save the baby, she was overpowered by the dog, “because the dog is huge.”
She said there was nobody around when she was being attacked and that by the time people came out to rescue her, the dog had killed the baby.
“My baby had catarrh earlier and I contracted it from her.
”I went out carrying my baby in the back to get drugs for myself and the baby.
“On my way out, I heard a sound from behind, by the time I turned round to check, a dog jumped from behind and attacked the baby.
“The people that came to my rescue managed to kill the dog, but by the time my baby was pulled out from under the dog, she was already dead,” she explained sobbing.
Muideen said that after the attack, she was taken to a nearby hospital before she was later taken to the police clinic, Oke-Fia, Osogbo, for treatment.
Also, the husband of the victim, Oyegbade Muideen, demanded for the identity of the owner of the dog.
It was, however. learnt that the killer dog escaped from its cage, in an uncompleted building close to the victim’s house.
The owner of the uncompleted building was said to be unknown to residents of the area.
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ID/JOO/VE/IKU