A
suspected child abductor, Ola Ibikunle, has been detained by the police after
he was caught with a four-year-old girl in the Oyero area of Ijoko, Ogun State. It was
learnt that Ibikunle, a bricklayer, had held his victim, Eniola, by the neck
and was about to strangle her in an uncompleted building when he was caught by
passersby. The
suspect, who confessed to have stolen a three-year-old boy and sold him for
N1,500, was later handed over to operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad
of the Agbado Police Division.
PUNCH
Metro gathered
that Eniola and her 11-year-old sister, Opeyemi, were following their father,
Segun Quadri, to a church in Ijoko around 2pm on Tuesday. The
father was said to have gone some distance ahead when the suspect ambushed the
children and abducted Eniola. The victim’s sister, Opeyemi, reportedly raised
the alarm which caught the attention of some passersby. The
suspect was reportedly met in an uncompleted building while trying to strangle
the girl. An
angry mob had beaten him up before the police arrived on the scene.
Ibikunle,
who hails from Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, told a correspondent that Eniola was
his second victim. The
suspect, who spoke in Yoruba, confessed to have stolen a three-year-old boy
around the Ijoko area sometime in June and sold him to a man in the Sango area
for N1,500.
He
said, “I am a bricklayer, but I use child abduction to augment my wages. A man
in the Sango area contracted me to always get children for him. I don’t know
what he uses them for. Last month, I abducted a boy of about three years and
sold him to the man for N1,500. “This
girl (Eniola) was the second child I would abduct, but I did not succeed.”
The
victim’s father, Segun, said he and the children were already late for a church
programme on that day which made him to walk faster than them. He
said, “The incident happened around 1pm on Tuesday. We had a programme in our
church and we were late. Since Opeyemi is older, I thought they should be able
to find their way to the church. “I had
gone some distance ahead when some people called me that Opeyemi said her
younger sister had been abducted. She said the abductor escaped with Eniola to
an uncompleted building and she led us there. We met him holding her by the
neck.”
A
police source told a correspondent that efforts were being made to apprehend
the buyer of the abducted children. “The
suspect has confessed to the crime and he stated that he sells his victims to a
man in the Sango area. But he has yet to mention the name of the kingpin. Some
operatives followed him to the area twice, but he did not lead them to the
man’s house. We are going to ensure that we track him down,” the source said.
The
Ogun State acting Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said
the suspect would be further investigated.
See his face like that of a herbalist
ReplyDeleteI trust SARS, they'll give him what he deserves.
ReplyDelete