Police in Lagos has arrested four women for allegedly abducting and selling a nine-year-old girl, identified simply as Blessing, for N650,000.
The women, Fausat Ogidan, Abibat Oresanya, Bola Obajuruwa and Idiyat Abass.,were apprehended on Sunday, June 6, after a tip-off.
The state Commissionerof Police, Umar Manko, had directed the command’s Special Anti-RobberySquad, led by SP Abba Kyari, to go after the child sellers’ syndicate. Ogidan, who was with the nine-year-old girl, and collected the sum on behalf of others, was arrested in the Gbagada area of Lagos.
Our correspondent gathered that the 51-year-old woman, who is married with four children, had arranged to sell the girl and on that Sunday.
Further investigations by our correspondent revealed that the girl was given to Ogidan by Obajuruwa, commonly known as Iya Alaje, who lives in the Suberu Street, Alakuko area of Lagos.
Iya Alaje also confessed that she had told Ogidan to sell the girl for N350,000 before she was caught.
She said, “I used to sell herbs in the Agege Market. I told Fausat (Ogidan) to sell the girl forN350,000, but Fausat added N300,000 as her own profit. The girl was sold to me by Idiyat (Abass) and her elder sister, Abibat. “I bought her from them for N130,000. They said they were going to give the money to the girl’s mother who wanted to get rid of her because of poverty.” Obajuruwa, when arrested, had led the police to Abass and Oresanya, who got the girl from her parents and connived to sell her.
Our correspondent further learnt that Abass, a 48-year-old woman, who was living in the Salau Dogo Street, Ibafo area of Ogun State, had obtained the girl from her mother, who the police said was still at large.
It was gathered that Oresanya claimed that Blessing’s mother had wanted to dispose of her and use the money obtained to take care of her other children. However, during interrogation, Blessing, who said her real name was Yetunde, told the police that she was kidnapped from their residence in Ibadan.
When our correspondent visited Obajuruwa’s residence in Alakuko, her octogenarian mother said she had yet to find out what the police arrested her daughter for. She said, “I just heard that policemen from Agege Police Division had come to take her away. I don’t know why she is being detained by them. I have yet to know her offence.”
Another relative, who identified herself simply as Funmi, claimed that Obajuruwa gave out Blessing, who was her grandchild, to a customer to assist in home chores. She said,“There are about seven to eight children in this house. They are all Iya Alaje’s grandchildren. So, it happened that when one of her customers put to bed recently. She pleaded with mama to give her someone to assist her. Iya Alaje took Blessing, her seven-year-old granddaughter, to be staying with her. The second day, Blessing ran away from that house, and told the people who saw her that she had been kidnapped by the customer.
“That was why the police arrested mama and the customer, saying they kidnapped the girl.”
Our correspondent learnt that investigations were ongoing at the SARS on the matter.
The Lagos State Police spokesperson, Ngozi Braide, promised to get back to our correspondent, but had yet to do so as of the time of going to the press.