Women abduct nine-year-old girl, sell her for N650,000

The Lagos StatePolice Command has arrested
four women for allegedly abducting and selling a
nine-year-old girl, identified simply as Blessing,
for N650,000.
The women are Fausat Ogidan, Abibat Oresanya,
Bola Obajuruwa and Idiyat Abass.
Our correspondent gathered that the women were
apprehended on Sunday, June 6, after a tip-off.
The state Commissionerof Police, Umar Manko,
had directed the command’s Special Anti-
RobberySquad, led by SP Abba Kyari, to go after
the child sellers’ syndicate.
Ogidan, who was with the nine-year-old girl, and
collected the sum on behalf of others, was
arrested in the Gbagada area of Lagos.
Our correspondent gathered that the 51-year-old
woman, who is married with four children, had
arranged to sell the girl and on that Sunday.
Further investigations by our correspondent
revealed that the girl was given to Ogidan by
Obajuruwa, commonly known as Iya Alaje, who
lives in the Suberu Street, Alakuko area of Lagos.
Iya Alaje also confessed that she had told Ogidan
to sell the girl for N350,000 before she was
caught.
She said, “I used to sell herbs in the Agege
Market. I told Fausat (Ogidan) to sell the girl
forN350,000, but Fausat added N300,000 as her
own profit. The girl was sold to me by Idiyat
(Abass) and her elder sister, Abibat.
“I bought her from them for N130,000. They said
they were going to give the money to the girl’s
mother who wanted to get rid of her because of
poverty.”
Obajuruwa, when arrested, had led the police to
Abass and Oresanya, who got the girl from her
parents and connived to sell her.
Our correspondent further learnt that Abass, a 48-
year-old woman, who was living in the Salau
Dogo Street, Ibafo area of Ogun State, had
obtained the girl from her mother, who the police
said was still at large.
It was gathered that Oresanya claimed that
Blessing’s mother had wanted to dispose of her
and use the money obtained to take care of her
other children.
However, during interrogation, Blessing, who said
her real name was Yetunde, told the police that
she was kidnapped from their residence in
Ibadan.
When our correspondent visited Obajuruwa’s
residence in Alakuko, her octogenarian mother
said she had yet to find out what the police
arrested her daughter for.
She said, “I just heard that policemen from Agege
Police Division had come to take her away. I
don’t know why she is being detained by them. I
have yet to know her offence.”
Another relative, who identified herself simply as
Funmi, claimed that Obajuruwa gave out Blessing,
who was her grandchild, to a customer to assist
in home chores.
She said,“There are about seven to eight children
in this house. They are all Iya Alaje’s
grandchildren. So, it happened that when one of
her customers put to bed recently. She pleaded
with mama to give her someone to assist her. Iya
Alaje took Blessing, her seven-year-old
granddaughter, to be staying with her. The
second day, Blessing ran away from that house,
and told the people who saw her that she had
been kidnapped by the customer.
“That was why the police arrested mama and the
customer, saying they kidnapped the girl.”
Our correspondent learnt that investigations were
ongoing at the SARS on the matter.
The LagosState Police spokesperson, Ngozi
Braide, promised to get back to our
correspondent, but had yet to do so as of the time
of going to the press.