A 44-year-old woman has been arrested at a ceremony where she was renaming a stolen baby, sold to her and recovered by personnel of the Lagos State Police Command at Ikorodu area of the state.....CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE
The suspect, Mrs Mercy Uwam, was said to have bought the baby boy from a woman who bought it from a ‘pastor’ before selling it to her.
The suspect who spoke with our correspondent said she became desperate after many years of getting married without an issue and having tried several orphanages to adopt a baby but failed to secure one.
She said it was in the process of trying to adopt a child that someone introduced her to the woman who sold the baby boy to her and with that her joy knew no bound, especially on the day the baby was brought to her.
The suspect said the incident became a disgraceful thing for her and her entire family members on the day the police came to arrest her and recovered the baby, unknown to her that the baby was stolen.
Accordingly to her, “On Friday, August 30, 2024, I decided to have the naming ceremony of the baby boy and I intended to give him Favour, as his Christian name and Chiemerem. I just wanted a small gathering of 10 persons for the naming ceremony.
I was cooking for the occasion when some policemen came and arrested me, she said in a sober voice. The distraught woman said she got married in 2009 without having a child of her own and that was what pushed her to buy the baby boy from the woman who sold it to her not knowing it was a stolen baby.
She said: I had visited many motherless babies homes in Anambra , Ogun and Lagos states and was told the list of people waiting to adopt was much. In the process of my search, somebody introduced me to Madam Laurentta, who said she could be of help, but that I needed to pay N50,000 as registration fee.
After some months, she called me to say she had a baby boy ready. I took the child, paid her N2.4 million, including the N50,000 for registration.
I was happy and took the baby home. There were spots on his body; I bought medicine, food for him.
I was taking care of the baby, unknown to me that he was stolen. During the process, I did not seek my husband’s consent when I made the payment. He was once married and has a child. But I needed mine.
I felt he was not interested because he already has his. When he came back, he was not happy with me when he was told I was arrested.
It was a pathetic situation, as the situation brought shame upon me and my husband in the community.
It was after I was arrested that people in my community got to know that the baby I called mine was actually not my biological child. I feel embarrassed when police came to arrest me with the baby.
“It was after I was arrested that I got to know that I bought the baby two weeks after he was abducted and the mother has been searching for him throughout their community, before it was recovered from me.”
How the baby was stolen It was learnt that the baby was stolen at Oredola Street in Oko Oba, area of Agege, Lagos State on August 11, 2024, the baby’s mother’s closest neighbor absconded with her one-year-two-month-old child, leaving the baby’s mother with emotional trauma.
The 37-year-old suspect who is a neighbor and mother of two, identified as Gloria Sunday, alleged that she was convinced by one ‘Pastor’ Peter Udoh, to bring a baby for sale and that was what prompted her.
“I have been living in the same compound with the mother of the baby for two years. On that fateful day, I took the child to church. At the close of service, I took him to Ikene, Ogun State, to ‘Pastor’ Peter’s place.
He said he wanted to give him to somebody that needed a baby. He assured me that the person would take care of the baby. “I took the baby boy to church with mine because she has trust in me, that nothing will happen to her child, but she never knew I had another plan for her.
I immediately switched off my phone for her not to reach me and escaped to Akwa- Ibom State after giving the baby to the ‘pastor’ who asked me to bring him.
“The ‘pastor’ bought the baby for N650,000 from me, and I went to my village in Akwa-Ibom State, where I was arrested and brought back to Lagos and others were also arrested in connection with the crime.
I regret my actions; it was the handiwork of the devil. God should forgive me of my sins present and past ones.”
But ‘Pastor’ Peter Udoh , said Mrs. Sunday told him the baby was her late sister’s child and that she could not take care of him.
According to him: “Sunday never told me she stole the child. She said he was her late sister’s baby and that she couldn’t take care of him because she has five children of her own.
That was why I told her to come with the baby. I contacted Mrs. Laurentta who is part of the deal, who bought the baby for N1.450 million.
For the third suspect, Laurentta Nelson , she admitted to having bought the baby from ‘Pastor’ Udoh and sold him to Mrs. Mercy Uwam for N2.3 million. She admitted also to have realized N900,000 from the sale.
She said: “Pastor and I met at 2nd Rainbow. He said the baby’s mother was dead and his sister Mrs Sunday could not care for him because she is a widow. “I noticed that the baby’s hair was improperly cut.
When I asked, he said Mrs Sunday cut the baby’s hair because she didn’t have money to celebrate his one-year birthday. Thereafter, I contacted the buyer, Mrs Uwam who bought the baby for N2.3 million.”
While Uwam’s tears were those of regret and the sad reality of the situation she is enmeshed in, those of the mother of the baby, Mrs Kemi Shodiya were of joy and relief. She said the moment of reuniting with her once-lost baby was like a balm to her soul.
While expressing appreciation to the Nigeria Police Force for being instrumental in her joy and bringing her son back, she said: “The children of the woman who stole my baby usually came to play with my children.
I never raised an eyebrow the day she took my baby to church, because that was not the first time she was taking him to church. They left by 5 pm, but by 8 pm, when they were supposed to return, I started looking for her.
“I called her phone, but it was switched off. It took us two weeks and one day of waiting and praying. By the time I got my baby, his hair had been cut.
I thank Oko Oba Police Station, my neighbors, in-law, and my traditional ruler. I learnt my lesson never to be too trusting of anyone.”
The Divisional Police Officer, Oko-Oba, CSP Waliu Yusuf, on the directive of the Lagos State Police Commissioner, CP Adegoke Fayoade, ordered the team of policemen to travel down to Akwa-Ibom State where the fleeing neighbor, Mrs Sunday was arrested.
Her arrest it was gathered, led to the arrest of others and the rescue of the stolen baby.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Benjamin Hundeyin, said the suspects would be charged to court immediately.
