A 28-year-old woman, Anuoluwapo Joshua, has been arrested by the police in Ogun State for allegedly stealing a three year old baby, Akamaka Francis, at the Redemption camp, along Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
The Ogun police spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the suspect stole the child in July during the monthly Holy Ghost Congress of the Redeemed Church.
“The suspect stole the child in July 2017 during the monthly Holy Ghost congress of the Church”, he said.
Mr. Oyeyemi said the mother of the child reported that the child was stolen by an unknown person when she went to pack the children’s clothes in the new auditorium where she had gone for prayers with her husband.
He said all efforts to know the whereabouts of the child since then were unsuccessful. Luck, however, ran out for the suspect on December 29 when the child was sighted inside the youth centre at redemption camp during the church-organised children’s end of the year party.
“On receiving the information, the DPO redeemed division SP Olaiya Martins led detectives to the centre where they waited until the end of the program when the suspect came out to pick the child and was promptly arrested”.
Mr. Oyeyemi said the suspect has since confessed to the crime and admitted that she lured child out of her parents sight and took her to Ofada area where she has been taken care of the child since then.
“Investigation further revealed that the suspect had earlier got pregnant for somebody in Lagos but travelled to the north where she claimed she has delivered of a baby girl,” Mr. Oyeyemi said.
“But when she came back from the North,she didn’t come with the baby which made the man who impregnated her to be putting pressure on her to bring his child for him. She later informed her relatives that she is going to Nasarawa state to bring the child but went to Redeemed camp where she stayed for some days before succeeding in stealing the child which she presented to her relations as her daughter.”
The case is being investigated after which the suspect will be prosecuted.
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