Eighteen-month-old baby murdered by assailant in Ondo

By Adetokunbo Abiola

The Police in Akure have confirmed the murder of an 18-month-old girl by an unknown assailant  at a farm camp in Idanre, the headquarters of Idanre Local Government Area of Ondo State.

Confirming the incident, DSP Abayomi Jimoh, the spokesperson for the Police Command in the state, said that an arrest had been made and investigation was ongoing.

According to the police, the assailant had also attacked the mother of the baby and three of her other children.

Jimoh said that the suspect would be charged to court upon completion of the investigation.

The father of the girl, Mr Bright Kalu, is demanding justice over the gruesome killing of his daughter on a farmland at Agoti Settlement in Idanre on Monday, June 8.

Kalu, a peasant farmer, who hailed from Abia State, explained that the deceased was left in the care of her mother at the farm camp while he was working on another farm, a distance from the settlement.

Narrating his ordeal, Kalu said: “On Monday, June 8, 2026, I was returning from a nearby camp where I had gone to buy food items when I met my wife looking troubled and distressed.

“My elder brother, Mr Ifeanyi Kalu, and I immediately followed her to the camp and searched the area.

“We did not find anyone, but we later discovered the lifeless body of my daughter behind our house. Her head had been severed.”

He said the matter was reported at the Olofin Police Station in Idanre before being transferred to the State Police Headquarters in Akure for further investigation.

He appealed to the state government, security agencies and human rights organisations to ensure that the perpetrators of the crime were brought to justice.