Police officers in the Oyo State of Nigeria have confirmed the arrest of Itunu Adepoju, aged 23, from the Badore Area, Ajah of Lagos State of Nigeria, for reportedly escaping with a three-day-old female infant after kidnapping her from her mother.
It was found that the woman who absconded with the infant had suffered a stillbirth seven days earlier.
Adewale Osifeso, the Oyo Police spokesperson, while confirming the arrest, stated initial investigation by the officers revealed that the mother of the stolen baby, Monsurat Lateef, aged 36, of Itamerin Area, Ogbere, Ona Ara local government area, delivered a baby girl on July 16, Saturday at Mission House, Yahora Faith Mission, Itamerin, Ogbere.
However, on July 19, she went to Abaemu General Hospital, Ona-Ora, to begin immunizations for her daughter, where she met the suspect, who came to her as a friendly patient seeking medical intervention.
Monsurat didn’t know that the suspect had just gone through stillbirth and was referred to the same healthcare facility for the scan.
Both of them began talking, and the suspect showed her interest in moving down to Ibadan from Lagos was an urgent requirement for accommodation.
Driven by empathy, Monsurat Lateef decided to help her by assisting her in the house search.
The victim then decided to invite the accused over to spend the night because they got late while house searching.
Around 1 am, Itunu Adepoju intentionally asked the victim to utilize a nearby Point Of Sales (POS) terminal with the three-day-old infant carefully tucked away on her back.
The money that she said she wanted to collect was sent by her fiance for the completion of the renting process.
The complainant Monsurat Lateef, later realized that she had been fooled and that the suspect had absconded with her baby.
Osfeso disclosed that an investigation is continuing, and the case would be charged to court when completed.
