Miss. Grace John, who abducted a three-year-old girl
at the Alagbado area of Lagos State, seven days after she applied as apprentice
in a bead making shop, yesterday disclosed that she did it to help her fiancé.
John, 28, who abducted the little girl, Oluwashemilore
Adebiyi, two months ago, insisted she was deceived by her fiancé, Samuel. Oluwashemilore
had been sold to three different buyers in Abia State before she was eventually
rescued.
She said the fiancé told her that the baby belonged
to him. The fiancé, who is still at large, also told her that he needed to
abduct Oluwashemilore so that he noticed the child lacked proper care.
John was arrested along with Rita Eze and Ogechi
Nweke.
According to John, Samuel told her that the mother
of the baby girl was his ex- girlfriend. Samuel allegedly told John that while
dating Oluwatobiloba, they had Oluwashemilore. He said that Oluwatobiloba later
left with the child to remarry.
John explained that she was sent to Oluwatobiloba’s
shop to apply as an apprentice in bead making with the sole purpose abducting
the toddler.
John said: “Samuel told me the woman was his former
girlfriend. He said the lady left with his baby to remarry. He said that he
wanted to get his child back, so that he could take proper care of her. Samuel
took me to the woman’s shop at Alagbado area, where I pretended I wanted to
learn bead making. After seven days, I lied to my mistress that I was going to
buy sausage rolls. I took the girl with me to Kola Bus-Stop, where I met Samuel.
He instructed me to take her to his grandmother’s place at Onitsha, Anambra
State because he’s still in school.”
She noted that the following day, she boarded a bus
and went to Onitsha, where she met the old woman. She handed Oluwashemilore to
her and was given N60, 000 for transport.
She further recounted: “I never knew the child was not
Samuel’s daughter. I didn’t know that what I did was kidnapping. I just wanted
to help a man, who loves me. I have never kidnapped any child before.”
After she was arrested and the child rescued in Abia
State, some couples stormed police station to finger her as the person who
abducted their children.
She however said: “I have never set my eyes on any
of them before.”
The alleged grandmother of Samuel, Eze, explained
that Samuel was introduced to her by a former class mate. She ran into the old school
mate in December last year. Eze said she went into the unholy alliance of
selling Oluwashemilore because she needed money for her rent.
She said: “When I met my old friend at an event in
December, she told me her nephew has a child they needed someone to take proper
care of. She gave me Samuel’s phone number. He called the following day to say
his girlfriend would bring a child from Lagos. When Grace brought the girl,
Samuel told me to sell her. I gave the child to Ogechi to sell. Ogechi gave me
N500, 000. I gave Grace N60, 000 out of the money and I took N40, 000. I sent
the remaining money to Samuel. I never knew him before. I thought the child was
his girlfriend’s. I didn’t know the child was abducted.”
Stating her own side of the story, Nweke said she
didn’t get any money from the illicit business. She stressed that she wasn’t
aware Oluwashemilore was abducted. According Nweke, she only ventured into the
trade because she wanted to assist her friend, who had been unable to conceive.
Nweke said: “I told Rita if she knew any motherless
child home, that I had someone who wanted to adopt a child. She promised to get
back to me. When Rita called me back,
she told she had a child. I asked her if it was genuine transaction, she said
yes. I informed my friend, who provided the money. I never took anything from
the money. I handed everything to Rita.”
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai
Owoseni, said the suspects would soon be charged to court. Owoseni advised
parents and guardians to be watchful and conscious of people they employ as
house help and apprentices.
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