A 34-year-old woman named Deborah was detained by the Ekiti State police command on Wednesday for snatching a newborn child.
Deborah took the baby from Okeiyinmi Primary Health Center on Monday after being arrested at her home in the state capital’s Afao Road neighborhood.
CP Joseph Eribo while parading the suspect to the state police headquarters stated, “The suspect left a polythene bag containing the receipt she used to buy some baby items from a popular supermarket,”
“After approaching the supermarket, they gave us CCTV footage that showed her face. After which we received credible information from the person who knew she wasn’t pregnant and carrying a new baby. The suspect confessed to the crime to cover up her lies to UK-based husband”.
The suspect apologized for what she had done and said that she had stolen the baby in order to keep her lover.
“I stole the baby when my UK base boyfriend informed me of his coming. knowing fully well I had been lying to him to collect money. So I disguised myself as a pregnant woman by putting clothes in my stomach to gain access to the maternity ward as an expectant mother on Sunday morning.
“After observing that the mother of the baby I stole was a Northerner, I quickly moved closer and interacted with her and husband because I can speak Hausa language.
“Her husband asked me to look after the wife and the baby when he was leaving on Sunday night. I escaped with the baby very early on Monday around 5 am when I noticed that the mother was at sleep and there was no nurse at the ward that moment”, she confessed.