An 82-year-old man has been arrested by the Oyo State joint security outfit, Operation Burst, for abducting two female minors in Eruwa town.

Commander of Operation Burst, Brig Gen Usman Yusuf, while parading the suspect, Amusan Joseph, at the headquarters of the outfit in Agodi, Ibadan, said that Opeyemi Popoola, 14 and Opeyemi Hamsat, 13, were held by the suspect in his home for 11 days before the girls managed to escape.

However, the suspect claims to have offered the girls shelter after he allegedly found them wandering around in town.

Joseph also claimed that after consulting his oracle, he was shown that the girls had to bathe with a local soap he prepared to avoid punishment from their parents for running away from home.

He said, “I asked the girls to come into my house and they did. I consulted the oracle for them and discovered that there was nothing they could do to escape punishment, except they bathe with traditional black soap to appease the spirit of their parents.

“Through the oracle, I saw that their parents were angry and they might kill the girls if they unleash their anger on them. So, I gave the soap to them to bathe and I did not attempt to bathe them myself. I asked them to use the soap. Also, I fed them very well. I did not have any evil intention against the girls.”

Punch reports that the girls claimed that Joseph had intended to use them for money ritual.

Popoola said that they were picking cashew fruits and returned home late which led to their parents anger.

The girls claim that Joseph fed them with a lot of chicken during the course of their stay which made them comfortable with him.

“He gave us local soap to bathe and we kept the soap. We heard the man calling one prince on the telephone and when the prince came from Ibadan to Eruwa, I heard him telling the old man that he needed to renew the money ritual the old man prepared for him.

"The old man told him that the items needed were already in the house and the plan was that the new visitor should have sexual intercourse with us at night. We ran away through the window same day to escape their plan.”

The suspect will remain in police custody until the conclusion of the investigations after which he will be charged to court.