Police rescue 18-month-old boy from kidnappers

Detectives from the Osun State Police Command have recovered an 18-month-old boy, Abdullah Abdulazeez, three weeks after he was kidnapped in Osogbo, Osun State, and sold in Onitsha, Anambra State. The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Fimihan Adeoye, told Daily Trust that all the suspects connected with the kidnapping had been arrested and […]

Detectives from the Osun State Police Command have recovered an 18-month-old boy, Abdullah Abdulazeez, three weeks after he was kidnapped in Osogbo, Osun State, and sold in Onitsha, Anambra State.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Fimihan Adeoye, told Daily Trust that all the suspects connected with the kidnapping had been arrested and that the boy had been reunited with his parents.

The CP explained that the mastermind of the crime, Sidney Onwuka, took a 27-year-old lady, Joy Esu, to Mrs. Abdulazzez, the mother of the boy, who is a tailor in Osogbo, under the pretext that she (Joy) wanted to learn tailoring.

He said one week after she started as an apprentice at Mrs. Abdulazeez’s shop, Joy absconded with the little boy and took him to one Sidney as planned. 

The CP said, “They eventually took the boy to one Maxwell Agu in Onitsha and sold the child to him.

“Joy Esu and Sidney Onwuka pretended that they were husband and wife. Sidney took Joy to the mother of the boy under the pretext that she wanted to learn tailoring. After spending one week with the mother of the boy, she took the boy away.

“From Osogbo, Sidney and Joy took the boy to Onitsha and sold to Maxwell who gave the boy to a widow, Elizabeth Eze, who was desperate to have a male child and wanted to adopt a boy.”

A 60-year-old Reverend Father, Chike Oguejiofor, who was also arrested in connection with the kidnapping, said he only facilitated the process of the adoption of the boy by Elizabeth without knowing that the boy was kidnapped.