Ogun Police Burst Child Theft Syndicate, Recover Three Missing Children

Ogun Police Burst Child Theft Syndicate, Recover Three Missing Children

The Ogun state police command have arrested three suspected members
of a notorious child theft syndicate. Their alleged leader is a woman
who is currently serving her time in an Ondo prison for another case of
child theft.

A statement released by the police command spokes person, DSP
Abimbola Oyeyemi, says the syndicate’s modus operandi was to carry out a
surveillance of areas where their age-target of children were
concentrated, following which, two members of the syndicate, a man and a
woman, would pretend as a married couple in search of an apartment.
Nobody would ever suspect them to be kidnappers. They would deceive the
unsuspecting members of the society and then kidnap these children
successfully.

Three out of the eight stolen children have been recovered and united
with their parents, while efforts were said to be on to get the
remaining five from the strong-hold of the thieves.

 “Operatives of the Anti-kidnapping/Cultist Unit, who were mandated
to track the syndicate, embarked on a high technical investigation,
which paid off with the tracking of the group leader, one Mary Paul, in
an Ondo prison. Through synergy with Ondo Police Command, relevant
information was extracted, leading to the arrest of three members of the
gang, who actively participated in the theft of eight children across
the State”, the statement revealed.

According to the release, investigation further revealed that the
victims, stolen from different locations in the state, were sold to
their prospective buyers in Anambra State.

Oyeyemi gave the names of the suspects as Kate Njoku (F); Joy Okorie
(F) and Onyeka Joseph (M), stating that one of the recovered children,
Temidayo Ajayi, was abducted with his brother in Sagamu in July 2018.

According to the PPRO, the said Temidayo’s brother was still being
sought for by the Police, adding that the suspects had all made useful
statements to the Police on how they perpetrated the wicked act.