The state Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu,
paraded the women and 29 other suspects for armed robbery, vandalism,
murder, unlawful possession of firearms and fraud, at the police
headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta.
The suspected kidnappers, including Abibat Oyesanya,
Morenike Shittu and Olubunmi Funke, were busted by operatives of the Federal
Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) penultimate Sunday around Mowe-Ibafo area in
Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of the state.
According to Iliyasu, the leader of the kidnapping
syndicate, Abibat, had earlier been arrested, prosecuted and sentenced to
prison for similar offence.
He said the women had carried out several cases of
child stealing before their activities were uncovered through technical
intelligence.
Iliyasu said: "Information revealed that the
nefarious activities of the said women cut across the South West, where they
have succeeded in stealing many children.
"The operatives from FSARS went after the women
and three of them were promptly arrested. The leader of the gang was discovered
to have been arrested for similar offence before, charged to court, convicted
and sentenced to prison. Having completed the jail term, she went back to her
usual business."
Iliyasu warned criminals to relocate from the state,
saying his command would not relent in sanitizing and bringing criminals to
book.
Abibat, however, denied involvement in child
stealing and kidnapping.
She said she was only involved in arranging children
for adoption, adding that she once sold a particular child to an unnamed
policewoman for the sum of N300, 000.
The 51-year-old suspect, who hails from Ago-Iwoye
area of the state, disclosed that she once worked at an orphanage in the
Ejigbo area of Lagos State.
She, however, claimed that it was Olubunmi that
brought a young girl and requested that the victim be put up for adoption. She
also narrated how Olubunmi had earlier brought her own three-year-old daughter,
which she helped to sell for N300, 000 to a policewoman.
Abibat stated that she collected a sum of N20, 000
as a commission on the proceeds.
While insisting that she was not an ex-convict,
Abibat said she was only arrested, charged to court, remanded in Ijebu-Ode
Prison for one week and subsequently freed.
On her own part, Olubunmi, who described herself as a
commercial sex worker in Ogere, said she initially sold her three-year-old
daughter through Abibat.
She claimed to have sold the child in order to
offset some debt and pay for surgery bill.
Olubunmi explained that the case that landed her in
trouble was about a one-year-old child, whom she kidnapped along the railway
line in Bodija area of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. She said she had planned
to sell the baby through Abibat as usual, when they were arrested.
Stating her own side of the story, Morenike said she
only received the victims on behalf of Abibat and collected N5, 000 for her
efforts.
Meanwhile, Iliyasu revealed how the police arrested
the duo of Ibikunle Sunday and Darasimi Rotimi, a prophet at the Cherubim
and Seraphim Church along Ijoko, for the alleged murder of Sarah
Olowokere, in Sango-Ota area.
The police commissioner said the suspects killed the
victim for ritual purposes as her body was severely dissected.
His words: "On September 28, at about 5:30pm, we
got a tip-off about the murder of one Sarah Olowokere in Sango-Ota area of Ogun
State. Operatives from SCIID carried out a discreet investigation which led to
the arrest of two suspects and one at large.
During interrogation, the suspects
confessed to the killing of Sarah. The suspects dissected the body of the
deceased, removed the head, wrist, heart, breasts and the private part and
buried the remains at Alafia Street, off Alagbole Ijoko Ota. The remains of the
victims are still in the custody of their accomplices. These accomplices are
still at large.”
Fielding questions from our correspondent, Ibikunle
explained that the deceased was a girlfriend of his friend simply identified as
Ogo Eri, who is now on the run.
According to him, he conspired with Ogo Eri to kill
the lady and use her for money ritual.
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