The Punch reports that a police source, who would not want his name mentioned, stated that “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.”
The suspect conspired with her friend, Agatha Aigbomiam, to commit the crime last Tuesday.
They confessed to the crime while being paraded before journalists at the police command headquarters in Ikeja yesterday.
The 8-year-old child was abducted on her way to school and taken to Ogun State by Aigbomiam.
It was reported that the little girl cried out loudly to draw the attention of residents which led to the arrest of the two suspects.
The police source added that the 43-year-old Believe and the mother of the girl had searched for the child, including reporting a case of missing person at a police station.
The source added, “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.”
He said the kidnapped girl raised alarm while in captivity, shouting 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 called in the police.
According to the police source, “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.”
Believe told newsmen that her plan was to make N30,000 from the kidnap, which she needed 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.”
Also, Aigbomiam, a 42-year-old trader from Ekpoma in 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, said the suspects will be arraigned in court at the end of investigation, while advising parents and guardians to be vigilant over their children and wards.
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