The Oyo State Police Command has arrested a 23-year-old woman, Itunu Adepoju, for allegedly stealing another woman’s three-day-old baby in Ibadan.
Adewale Osifeso, the Police Public Relations Officer for Oyo State Police Command said this in a statement on Wednesday morning.
According to PPRO, the suspect, who reportedly had a stillbirth had met the 36-year-old mother of the baby, Monsurat Lateef, at a hospital, where the former had gone for a scan.
He said that they became friends and Lateef offered to assist her to search for accommodation she took her into her house to pass the night and she stole the baby the following day.
“The dragnet of eagle-eyed crack detectives attached to the Command’s Special Enquiry Bureau caught up with one Itunu Adepoju ‘f’ age 23yrs of Badore Area, Ajah, Lagos State who on 19/07/2022 surreptitiously absconded with a three(3)day old female baby from her Mother.
“Preliminary findings reveal that the mother, one Monsurat Lateef ‘f’ 36yrs of Itamerin Area, Ogbere, Ona Ara LGA delivered a female child on Saturday 16/07/2022 to the delight of her family at Mission House, Yahora Faith Mission, Itamerin, Ogbere.
“On Tuesday 19/07/2022, she proceeded to Abaemu General Hospital, Ona-Ora to initiate immunization proceedings for her daughter from where she met the suspect who approached her as a friendly patient who also sought medical treatment.
“Unknowing to Monsurat, the suspect had just suffered a stillbirth and had been referred to the same health facility for the scan.
“They got chatting and the suspect indicated an interest in moving down to Ibadan from Lagos and was in dire need of accommodation. Monsurat Lateef ‘f’ ’36yrs’, 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 the late evening.
‘In what seemed a premeditated action around 1300 hours, 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(3)day old baby carefully tucked away on a back. The money she intended collecting according to her was sent to her by her fiance for the purpose of completing the renting process.
“The complainant Monsurat Lateef ‘f’, obliged the suspect before she later realized she had been tricked and that the suspect had absconded with her child.
” Investigation is ongoing and the matter would be expressly charged to court upon its completion,” the statement read.
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