A suspected child kidnapper identified as Happiness Umah has been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly stealing a seven-month-old child, Favour, in the Ijora area of the state. According to reports, Umah was escaping with the child when he was intercepted by officials of the Rapid Response Squad, who queried him on where he got the child. He was alleged to have initially lied that he was her father, before saying he picked her from a bush where she was crying. A close source who disclosed to a correspondent, said that investigation revealed that the child was stolen from her mother. “Around 11pm on Wednesday, RRS officials who were on routine patrol at Eric Moore, Surulere, intercepted the man with the child.
“When he was queried on how he came about the child, he first said he was her father. Later, he changed his story and said he picked her up from a bush while she was crying. He said he was taking her to a police station in Bode Thomas when the police intercepted him.”It was obvious that he was lying because there is a police station a few metres away from where he supposedly picked up the child. He changed his story and said other things, which made the RRS men to send him to the command headquarters.”
The police later took him to the Ijora area, where the child’s mother, Patricia John, was found, and said her child was stolen while she was away. A source said,”The woman said she left the child in the room and went out to buy something and by the time she returned, the child was gone. She said she had searched everywhere for her. We are still investigating to know why he stole the baby.”
SP Dolapo Badmos, the Police Public Relations Officer who confirmed the incident, said the mother and her child had been reunited. “The mother and her child live in the Railway area of Ijora. The man was going with the child when he was arrested by the RRS operatives and questioned. When he could not give a satisfactory response as to where he found the child, he was arrested.”The command will not give room for miscreants to perpetrate crime in the state. We will continue to do our best to make Lagos crime-free.”