A dog breeder, identified as Lola Jonathan has been detained by Lagos State Police Command in connection with the death of a five-year-old boy allegedly killed by one of the dogs under his care at Rufus Olaniyan Estate, Irawo, Ikorodu area of the state. 


He was apprehended by the police at the Owode Onirin Police Division and transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department in Panti, Yaba.

It was gathered that the dog and 18 others were in Jonathan’s care as his father, who owns them, barely lived on the estate.

The boy, Jomiloju Odukomaya, was reportedly returning from a shop, where he had gone to buy a packet of biscuits on August 8, when the dog pounced on him and bit him in the left hand.

He was said to have contracted rabies from the dog bite and eventually died on September 18 at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi Araba.

Jomiloju’s mother, Mrs. Patience Odukomaya, lamented that neither Jonathan nor his father show concern for the family over the death of the Nursery 2 pupil, calling on the government and human rights groups to take up the matter.

She said, "I took him to a clinic immediately the dog bit him and the wound was treated. About two weeks after, he started exhibiting some strange signs. He screamed, barked and was drooling at the mouth.

"I took him to Randle Hospital on September 13 and a test conducted on him showed that he had contracted rabies. The hospital referred us to the LUTH. He died five days after.

"While he was receiving treatment, Jonathan came to check on him at my shop. But when he learnt that he was dead, he stopped coming and pretended as if the dog wasn’t his. I have lost my home; I don’t want to lose justice. My husband blamed me for the incident; whereas that was not the first time Jomiloju would go to buy things himself," she told The Punch. 

Patience said she had been moving from one place to another with her one-year-old daughter since September 19 when her husband sent her packing because of the matter, adding that Jonathan was adamant to admit that his dog bit Jomiloju.

 "Three weeks ago, I went to the house. The moment he (Jonathan) sighted me, he ran inside. I went to the Owode Onirin Police Station and a policeman followed me there. He didn’t come out. The policeman couldn’t enter because his dogs had been unleashed on the premises. They are about 19. He was eventually arrested on Tuesday."