How far would a woman go to make an estranged boyfriend come back? That’s the puzzle the police in Ibadan are trying to solve in a criminal case involving a young lady who reportedly stole her neighbour’s five-month-old son and presented him to her ex-boyfriend as the product of their earlier liaison. AKINWALE ABORISADE reports
Barely two weeks after the sordid tale of a missing three-day-old baby belonging to a young woman, Bose Abimbola, in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, another story of grief is currently rocking the city. In this case, a five-month-old baby christened Sunday has been abducted in a strange circumstance at Kudeti area, Ibadan.
However, while the police are still searching for clues that could lead to the whereabouts of Abimbola’s baby girl, they said that they had since arrested the suspected kidnapper of Tawa Razaki’s son. And the suspect has confessed to the crime, police said.
Police investigation indicates that 20-year-old Bose Amoo, Razaki’s neighbour, is a person of interest in the matter. Amoo is living with Taiwo, her boyfriend, on the ground floor of the same building as the nursing mother. Razaki, who had a baby for Dele, her boyfriend, still lives with her own mother in the same house as Amoo.
The painful story of a mother that fought to have her stolen baby back started on January 19, 2011. Time was 6pm and Razak was in her mother’s bedroom. She was having a rest when she heard someone calling her name from the outside. She peeped through the window, and a neighbour informed her that Amoo was looking for her. So, she took her son with her to the veranda of the house on the ground floor.
She said while she was outside with Amoo, her son defecated in his pant and the lady (Amoo) told her to bring another pant for the baby for a change. She obliged. But before she came back with the pant, Amoo had taken off with the baby.
Razak said, “When I asked Funke (another neighbour who was with them) about where Amoo had taken my baby to, I was told she had gone to the nearby market with my baby to buy something. I was not worried initially, because she usually took the baby out.”
Razak however became worried an hour later when Amoo still hadn’t returned. She asked Funke if her neighbour was back, but she was told that she had not. Later, Funke told Razak that Amoo called to say that she saw Dele, the father of the baby, at Popo-Yemoja area of the city and had handed him over to his father. But when Razak called, the man denied Amoo’s claim. “Dele told me that it was a lie; that he hadn’t seen her or the baby that particular day,” Razak lamented.
A young lady called Deola, who arrived at the scene from outside, told the worried neighbours that she met Amoo on the way with the baby. Deola said the suspect told her that she was going to Idi-Arere. At around 8:30p.m., the disenchanted mother reported the matter at Mapo Police Station.
Funke (the neighbor), Dele (Razak’s boyfriend), Taiwo (Amoo’s boyfriend) and other persons linked to the missing baby in the neighbourhood were interrogated. Police detectives combed the entire area but had no clue about the kidnapper’s whereabouts.
The case was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department on Tuesday, January 26, following which Amoo’s relations in Ibadan were arrested and whisked to the station. But the cloud over the disappearance of the suspect with the baby was still thick and dark until Thursday when the bubble burst.
Amoo made a call to her elder sister. A female police officer who feigned the elder sister picked the call. She asked for the suspect’s whereabouts and, luckily, she provided the information.
A team of detectives from the SCID went to Okoinde Village where she had since been in hiding. They searched from house to house, but their efforts were abortive. In fact, they had already given up and were driving out of the village when they saw a building where baby’s clothing was spread on the line. There, Amoo was allegedly found feeding the poor baby with noodles and egg.
At first, she denied the allegation with a strong protest. She said she was the mother of the baby. According to the Police, Amoo even said she could take them to the hospital where she was delivered of the baby.
But the bottom was soon knocked out of her lies. She later confessed to the crime and begged for forgiveness. Asked why she stole somebody else’s baby, Amoo said she wanted the baby in order to save her relationship with Sunday, another boyfriend of hers from whom she was estranged.
According to her, she was once pregnant with a baby for Sunday. However, she said he was not prepared for the responsibility. She therefore left him and relocated to Ibadan. There, she alleged to have given birth to the baby, but said the baby died a day after. She moved into Taiwo’s house in April, 2010, she claimed.
“But my heart was with Sunday, my first love. And the only way to secure my relationship with him is to give him a child. That accounted for my evil act,” Amoo volunteered.
She said that her in-laws received her with joy when she brought the baby to them in the village. They were happy to see their ‘grandson.’ But their joy was short-lived, as the truth soon came to light. Now, Amoo said she regretted her action. But the police said that the law must take its course.
According to the Police Public Relations Officer, Oyo State Command, Mr. Adeyinka Ajimuda, no offender will go unpunished. Therefore, he said, Amoo must face the penalty for her undoing.
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