How Supposed Friend Stole Woman’s 9-Month-Old Baby in Lagos

A woman, Jennifer Onyebuchi, allegedly abducted her friend’s nine-month-old baby in the Ajegunle area of Lagos after telling her she was taking him to buy something. She then fled with the baby to Okija, Anambra State, where she was arrested on September 30 by Lagos state police officers.

According to Punch, Onyebuchi and the baby’s mother, Aina Adetola, are shop owners on the same street and had only been friends for about two weeks before the ugly incident.

Recounting the incident, a neighbour who identified himself as Uche, said: “It was on Saturday, September 26. We were all shocked that Jennifer (Onyebuchi) escaped with the nine-month-old baby. She had met the victim’s mother for just two weeks before she carried out the act. They were both shop owners in the area. On that day, Jennifer took the baby from his mother when he was crying and said she was going to buy him a bottle of soft drink from a nearby shop. When the mother waited for them to return, but did not see them, she raised the alarm. The matter was thereafter reported at the Ajegunle Police Division. Nobody suspected that Jennifer had a devilish motive. It turned out that the woman took the baby to a bus station and travelled on the same day to Okija, Anambra State.”

The baby’s mum, Adetola, reliving her ordeal and how she met Jennifer, said:

“I could not eat for four days. I thought I was going to run mad. I wanted to kill myself, but people continued to calm me down. My husband was so angry that he sent me out of his apartment, and I had to be sleeping in my friend’s house. He said if I did not bring the baby back, I should not return to his apartment. I wept throughout that period.

I first met Jennifer (Onyebuchi) at a filling station around Boundary bus stop in Ajegunle. She would always assist me when I wanted to buy petrol. She had a shop in the area too. On that Saturday, she had come to my shop when my baby was crying. She carried him and said she was going to buy a drink for him.

That was my mistake. After hours of waiting for them, I rushed to Akinbo Street at the house where I knew Jennifer stayed, only to be told that she had travelled. I was shocked. That was when I went to the police to make a report.”

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Police operatives from Lagos tracked her down at Okija four days later after they were briefed on the incident.

A police source in Ajegunle said when operatives visited Jennifer’s rented apartment, a lover who harboured her told them that he did not know the suspect’s relation except a spare parts dealer who brought her from the village.

He added: “The police located the spare parts dealer, who suggested that the woman might have travelled to her hometown in Okija, Anambra State. So, the dealer and the police went to Anambra, and they were on her trail for two days. On Wednesday, she was arrested. She and the baby were brought back to Lagos on the eve of Nigeria’s Independence Day…”