Police in Ondo state on Thursday disclosed that it arrested a woman identified as Funmi Mogbojuri, for allegedly stealing a day-old baby.
According to the police, the 35-year-old suspect stole the baby at Sabo, in the Okitipupa Local Government Area of the state and took it to Sagamu, Ogun State.
The Ondo State Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs Funmilayo Odunlami, said the suspect was arrested while christening the stolen baby.
She said, “One Abass Issah of Arikawe Street, Okitipupa, came to the station and reported that his newborn baby was stolen by unknown persons. Discreet investigation by Okitipupa divisional policemen led to the arrest of Funmi Mogbojuri, who absconded with the baby to Makun, Sagamu in Ogun State.
“During interrogation, she confessed to have absconded with the baby to her husband’s house. It was also discovered that she had earlier stolen another baby on January 16, 2021, in Okitipupa. She took the child to Igbokoda and gave him to one Lucky and said the child died a few days later.”
The suspect confessed to the crime and pleaded for forgiveness.
Mogbojuri also said she had two kids for her first husband, but his family denied her access to them.
She said, “It was not intentional. I will just beg Nigerians to forgive me. Truly, I stole the child and I did that in order to take good care of the child. I have given birth before, but I never had a child for the husband I am presently with. I just like the child; that’s why I abducted the child because I have not conceived for my present husband.
“The husband I married now did not know anything about the situation. I lied to him that I was pregnant. This is the second time I will abduct a child.”
The mother of the baby, Binta Alhassan, stated that Mogbojuri came to their house and requested to pass the night on the day she put to bed, which she obliged.
She said, “She had a friend in our house before, whom she always visited, but the man is no more living in our house. That was how we knew her. She came in the evening of the day I put to bed that she was stranded in Okitipupa and had no place to sleep.
“We allowed her to spend the night in one of the vacant rooms; we even gave her food to eat that night, not knowing that she had a mission. To my surprise, the following morning while on my way from the bathroom, the woman had disappeared with the baby, whom I had not even breastfed by then. It was after five days that the police found and arrested her.”
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