In a horrifying tale of blind faith gone wrong, Samuel Otasi, a 42-year-old father from Bayelsa State, has been arrested after allegedly poisoning his three sons—ages 10, 12, and 14—with Sniper insecticide, following a prophecy that branded the children as wizards.
According to police at the Igbogene Divisional Headquarters, Otasi committed the act with the help of a close relative, tying the boys up and forcing the deadly liquid down their throats in a secluded bush. His reason? A so-called “prophetic revelation” from a man identified as George Odugo, who claimed during a church service that the children had been bewitched by their mother and were spiritually assigned to destroy their father’s life.
It was this prophecy, officers say, that led Otasi to take justice into his own hands—with devastating consequences.
Tragically, two of the boys died, but the youngest miraculously survived. He escaped the forest, covered in rope marks, and eventually regained consciousness at a medical facility. In a heartbreaking confession to doctors and police, the boy detailed how his father and uncle led them into the bush, tied them up, and forced them to drink the poison.
By the time law enforcement reached the scene, it was too late for the other two children. Their lifeless bodies were retrieved in crude wooden crates—an image that left journalists and police officials shaken during a visit to the crime scene, led by the Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police.
Inside the police station, grief filled the air. Samuel Otasi’s mother—now mourning the loss of two grandsons and dealing with the reality of her son facing trial for their deaths—wept uncontrollably as she pleaded for understanding.
Police authorities have strongly condemned the act, urging parents to never drag their children into personal disputes or spiritual paranoia. A senior officer stressed, “Misguided prophecies should never be a death sentence for children. The law will take its course.”
Otasi remains in custody, awaiting trial for murder and child abuse. As investigations continue, the community is left grappling with the cruelty of a father’s belief that took two innocent lives—all because a prophet said so.
