A young Nigerian girl who is just 12 years old, has been arrested in Ondo.

The girl simply identified as Wumi was arrested for allegedly stabbing her 54-year-old adopted mother to death.

The decomposing body of her mother, Florence Adelayi, was found inside her residence at Premier Estate, Okunbadejo Street along Oda Road in Akure.

She was believed to have been locked inside to bleed to death after being stabbed several times on the back.

A knife which was suspected to have been used for the crime was found at the scene.

The teenager was the only person living with the deceased when the incident occurred.

It was the offensive smell from the apartment that made neighbours raise the alarm and policemen were invited and broke into the apartment.

Neighbours said they thought she travelled when they did not see her for days and her gate was locked.

One of the neighbours said: “We woke up to see some strange black flies coming out of her compound on Sunday morning. But we could not access the compound because the gate was locked from the outside. There was no sign of anybody at home. So, we put calls across to her family members. No one can say what was responsible for her death. The best people can do is to speculate.”

Another source said: “The deceased came home with the girl from the office on Wednesday, greeted us and drove into her compound. That was the last time we saw her.

“The woman had been going through a lot to cope with the mental challenge of the girl, which gave her many sleepless nights.

“She had spent more than N1.5 million on the girl’s illness and refused to take her back to her parents because she would be lonely since she had no child. So, she had been avoiding most of her relatives and friends advising her to return the girl.”

It was gathered that the deceased adopted the suspect as a daughter but became mentally unstable in September last year.

The suspect was said to have been seen wandering around the area for days.

It was that the suspect was apprehended at the Pelebe area and taken to the police station for questioning.

The remains of the victim have been deposited at the morgue of the University of Medical Science (UNIMED), Akure.

 Ondo Police spokesman, SP Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, could not be reached for comments.