The Oyo State Police Command has arrested a 23-year-old lady, Itunu Adepoju, for allegedly stealing her benefactor’s three-day-old baby in Ibadan, the state capital.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Adewale Osifeso, in a statement on Wednesday, said the suspect had a stillbirth and went to a hospital in Ibadan for treatment, where she met the 36-year-old mother of the baby, Monsurat Lateef.
The statement read, “The dragnet of the eagle-eyed crack detectives attached to the command’s Special Enquiry Bureau caught up with one Itunu Adepoju, 23, of Badore area, Ajah, Lagos State, who on July 19, 2022, surreptitiously absconded with a three-day-old female baby from her mother.
“Preliminary findings reveal that the mother, Monsurat Lateef, was delivered of a female child on Saturday, July 16, 2022, to the delight of her family at the Mission House, Yahora Faith Mission, Itamerin, Ogbere.
“On Tuesday, July 19, 2022, she proceeded to Abaemu General Hospital, Ona-Ora, to initiate immunisation proceedings for her daughter from where she met the suspect, who approached her as a friendly patient who also sought medical treatment.
“Unknown to Monsurat, the suspect had just suffered a stillbirth and had been referred to the same health facility for a scan.
“They got chatting and the suspect indicated interest in moving down to Ibadan from Lagos, saying she was in dire need of accommodation. Monsurat, driven by empathy, decided to oblige the total stranger by assisting her to search for accommodation.
“In furtherance to the above, the complainant decided to invite her (the suspect) over to spend the night because at the time, the house searching had encroached into late evening.
“In what seemed a premeditated action around 1300hours, the suspect, Itunu Adepoju, who had now totally gained the confidence and trust of her host, pleaded to use a nearby Point-of-Sales terminal with the three-day-old baby carefully tucked away on her back. The money she intended collecting, according to her, was sent to her by her fiancé for the purpose of completing the rent process.
“The complainant obliged the suspect before she later realised that she had been tricked and that the suspect had absconded with her child. Investigation is ongoing and the matter will be expressly charged to court upon its completion.”
