The Lagos State Police Command has apprehended a
37-year-old man, Ajibola Idowu, for allegedly kidnapping the daughter of his
landlord for three years. The suspect was also said to have forcefully
impregnated the victim, Modupe Brown, during captivity.
The police told PUNCH Metro that after
Brown had given birth to the child, Ajibola refused to allow the child access to
immunisation.
As a result, the child was said to have
contracted polio disease and subsequently became crippled.
Lagos Deputy Police Public Relations Officer,
Damasus Ozoani, told PUNCH Metro that Ajibola, was arrested along with
his mother, Ebun, who allegedly conspired with him to commit the act.
He said, “Brown, a 400 level student of Business
Administration at the Lagos State University, was kidnapped by Ajibola who kept
her in captivity with his family for “three years between 2010 and 2013.
“On September 19, 2013, policemen from Area E
Command, went to the Sagamu area of Ogun State to rescue the victim and also
arrested the mother of the abductor, who watched over the victim. Ajibola was
later arrested in the Idumota area of Lagos Island.
“During the three years, Ajibola kept Brown in
three locations -Oshogbo, Osun State, where she spent six months; Bariga, Lagos,
where she spent six months; and Sagamu, Ogun State, where she spent about two
years.
“Ajibola forcefully impregnated Brown while in
captivity. She delivered a baby girl, who later became deformed as a result of
Ajibola’s refusal to have the baby immunised against the Polio virus.”
While speaking with our correspondent, Brown
described her ordeal in the hands of her abductor as a journey through the
valley of the shadow of death. She said she was abducted at her father’s house
in the Ebute Meta area of Lagos State.
She said, “I can’t even remember how he kidnapped
me. All I know is that he held me captive for three years. It’s as if I was
under a spell. Even when I was going to give birth, he did not allow me to go to
a hospital. The baby was delivered at home and he was the one giving me
medication.
“Even one day, when state officials came to the
area to immunise children, he said he would not allow the child to be immunised,
saying the drugs had been poisoned. Once, when I tried to leave, he threatened
to kill me.”
PUNCH Metro learnt that during her time in
captivity, the victim’s parents, who are retired civil servants, searched
hospitals, mortuaries, police stations and churches for her all to no avail.
The victim’s father, Idowu Brown, said he had no
clue that Ajibola was the abductor. He said, “I never knew it was Ajibola that
kidnapped my daughter. He was my tenant for six years and greeted me every day.
We even used to share jokes. He was aware that I had been looking “for my
daughter for three years but he never said anything.
“When we could not find her, I reported the
matter at FESTAC Police Division. It was in September this year that we heard
from our daughter for the first time. She told us that she was in Sagamu and my
wife went there.
“There we met Ajibola’s mother. That was how we
found out that he (tenant) was the one behind the whole thing.”
The suspects however denied abducting the
landlord’s daughter. Ajibola’s mother claimed her son and Brown were lovers, who
decided to elope, maintaining that the case was not an abduction.
She said, “They were lovers. I never got involved
in their matter until the child was born. I went to stay with them for about
seven months to take care of the child, who was very ill. A few months after I
left, they moved in with me at my three-bedroom house at Sagamu because they had
been evicted.
“Ajibola was not staying with us because his
business was in Lagos but I was with Brown “most of the time. Many times, I
would ask her about her parents and when I could meet them but she kept on
giving silly excuses until the day her mother came to my house with
policemen.”
Ajibola, who is into satellite dish installation,
said the plan to elope was hatched by Brown who paid N200, 000 into his bank
account. The money was said to have been meant for her school project.
He said he could not understand why she would
make such allegations against him.
“I did not kidnap her; we were lovers and decided
to elope. Even when she was at my house, she used to make calls to her relatives
telling them that she was alright,” he said.
Source; Punch
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