Samson Folarin
The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a
Ghanaian, Enyolam Believe, for allegedly kidnapping her
niece in the Ikotun area of the state.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Believe, who had been living in
Lagos for the past 17 years, conspired with her friend,
Agatha Aigbomiam, to commit the crime last Tuesday.
The eight-year-old victim was alleged to have been
kidnapped on her way to school and taken to Ogun State
by Aigbomiam.
The victim was said to have raised the alarm which drew
the attention of residents, leading to the arrest of both
suspects.
A police source said 43-year-old Believe and the victim’s
mother had searched for the child, including reporting a
case of missing person at a police station.
He said, “The suspect and the girl’s mother are sisters.
Believe, however, colluded with her friend, Aigbomiam,
to abduct the girl so that she could make money from
the mother.
“Their plan was that the friend would kidnap the child
and hide her somewhere in Ogun State, while she would
negotiate the ransom with the mother on the phone.
“When the girl went missing, the girl’s mother called her
and they both searched for the girl. She even suggested
that they should report the case to the police. The
mother never suspected that she was behind the kidnap.”
The source said while people were looking for the girl,
the suspect was also trailing the movement of her friend
and the victim on the phone.
He said the kidnapped girl, while in captivity, raised the
alarm that Aigbomiam was not her mother and called for
help from some Ogun residents, who came to her aid.
The matter was said to have been reported to a
community leader, who invited the police.
The source said, “When the police discovered that
Aigbomiam was not alone in the crime and she was
receiving calls from Believe, they decided to play along.
They asked her to invite Believe to Ogun State.
“It was when she arrived that the police arrested her. The
case was subsequently transferred to Lagos State where
the offence was committed. That was where the mother
of the girl saw that her own sister was behind her
ordeal.”
The suspects, who were paraded before journalists at the
police command headquarters in Ikeja on Thursday,
confessed to the crime.
Believe said she hoped to make N30,000 from the kidnap,
adding that she needed the money for a business.
She said, “I have my own children. I needed money badly
that time and I thought of different ideas, which didn’t
work. So, I decided to kidnap my sister’s daughter and
demand N30,000 ransom from her. I involved my friend
because I didn’t want to be the one to take the girl from
school. I don’t know what came over me.”
Aigbomiam, a 42-year-old trader from Ekpoma, Edo
State, said Believe asked her to kidnap the victim after
she returned from a surgery in Benin.
“She said she wanted to use the girl to collect some
money from her sister. She just showed me the girl’s
school and I kidnapped her around 7.30am on Tuesday,
while she was going to school. I took her to my relative’s
house in Ogun State. I was stupid for doing such a
thing.”
The state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, while
advising parents and guardians to be vigilant over their
children and wards, said the suspects would be
arraigned in court at the end of investigation.
Copyright PUNCH.