The police in Oyo State, Nigeria, have arrested a 23-year-old woman for allegedly stealing a three-day-old baby.
Itunu Adepoju, who stays in Lagos, committed the crime in Oyo after suffering a stillbirth therein, spokesperson for the Oyo State Command of the Nigeria Police, Adewale Osifeso, said in a statement.
Police said the mother of the stolen baby, Monsurat Lateef, who put to bed on Saturday, July 16, 2022, was approached by Adepoju, whom she had earlier met at the hospital, when she (Monsurat) went to the Abaemu General Hospital, Ona-Ora, to arrange immunizations for her newly-born.
Adepoju told Monsurat that she had just come in from Lagos to Oyo and was looking for a place to stay but didn’t share with her that she had suffered a stillbirth.
Driven by sympathy, Monsurat went out of her way to help Adepoju with house search. It was getting too late and they’ve had no luck finding a place. Monsurat then asked Adepoju to pass the night at her place.
The following morning, Adepoju said she wanted to go withdraw some money from the nearest POS terminal. She asked Monsurat to allow her go with the baby so she could sleep a wink since the baby didn’t let her quite do that in the night. Monsurat was only too happy to oblige.
With the baby strapped to her back, Adepoju left.
Hours passed and there was no sign of her or the baby. It then dawned on Monsurat that Adepoju had pulled a fast one on her. She raised alarm and alerted the police.
The police started combing the city. With useful leads, they apprehended Adepoju and returned the baby to her mother.
The police said they would charge Adepoju to court after their investigations.
