A 42-year-old woman, Mrs
Nimotu Raheem, was yesterday paraded by Lagos State Commissioner of
Police Fatai Owoseni for allegedly kidnapping three children at an
Arabic School in Itire-Ikate, Surulere, Lagos.
The children are a set of twins Taiye and Kehinde, 4 and a 16-month old boy, Fatai Adeola.
Owoseni said police rescued the
suspected kidnapper from being lynched by an irate mob on Wednesday night.
He said the suspect had demanded for the boy from his mother, who obliged her without questioning her motive.
“It was another woman who saw the manner
the suspect demanded for the child and the mother gave the child out
without any resistance or questions that now raised alarm. For the quick
intervention of the police from Itire, the suspect would have been
mobbed.
“At first, the suspect acted like a dumb person but after some tactics
used on her by our operative, she started talking. We also got
information that she has mental problem. All that she has said so far is
useful to our investigation,’’ he said.
The police chief said the suspect had
given the police some useful lead, promising to bring all those
involved, including the sponsors to book.
Owoseni appealed to public to be
vigilant, stressing that if not for the alertness of an old woman, the
suspect would have gone with the kids.
He enjoined parents to monitor their
children in Arabic and western schools and raise the alarm when they see
strange faces around them.
Mrs Raheem, who said she had a
two-year-old child in the same Arabic school, explained that she wanted
to take the children to their parents.
“I went to take my child and also the twins to their parent,” she said.
An eye-witness Amina Ayinla said: “The
suspect took the twins at about 7pm from Arabic school in the area and
claimed that she was a relative of the twins’ mother but unfortunately
for her, the grandmother of the twins saw her and alerted the neighbours
who gathered and rescued them from her.”
Fatai’s mother, Temilola Adeola said the suspect used charm to take his son away from her in the Arabic class.
Another eyewitness, who gave his name as
Ope, said yam flour, children’s pants and biscuits were found in the
suspect’s bag by the mob
