Police Burst Child Stealing Syndicate

LUCKY LAWAL

Men of Ogun State Police Command have arrested 3 members of a syndicate who specialized in stealing children from their unsuspecting parents.

The syndicate’s mode of operation is to use two of their members to disguise as couple looking for an apartment to rent most especially in a place where children of their interest reside.

They were said to have succeeded in stealing 8 children from different locations across Ogun State and sold them to their prospective buyers in Anambra State consequent upon which the Command launched serious manhunt for members of the syndicate.

The Anti-Kidnapping/Cultist Unit who were given the mandate to crack the syndicate embarked on high technical investigation which paid off when the principal suspect, one Mary Paul, was tracked to Ondo State where she is presently on trial and remanded in prison custody. Through synergy with Ondo State Police Command, relevant information was extracted and that led to the arrest of three other members of the gang who were directly involved in the stealing of eight children across Ogun State and three out of those children were subsequently rescued from them.

The suspects were: Kate Njoku, Joy Okorie and Onyeka Joseph. One of the children recovered from them, Temidayo Ajayi, who was abducted with his brother in Sagamu since July, 2018 has been reunited with his parent, while efforts are on in order to rescue his brother from the gang.

The suspects have all made useful statements to the Police on how they stole the children and sold them to their accomplices in Anambra State.

Meanwhile, the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, CP Bashir Makama, has ordered a thorough investigation of the case with the view to bring other members of the syndicate to book. He equally appealed to parents to take the security of their children seriously by not leaving their wards to the care of a total stranger.