A suspected child abductor, Ola Ibikunle, has been detained by the police after he was caught with a four-year-old girl in the Oyero area of Ijoko, Ogun State.
Punch learnt that Ibikunle, a bricklayer, had held his victim, Eniola, by the neck and was about to strangle her in an uncompleted building when he was caught by passersby.
The suspect, who confessed to have stolen a three-year-old boy and sold him for N1,500, was later handed over to operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Agbado Police Division.
According to investigations, Eniola and her 11-year-old sister, Opeyemi, were following their father, Segun Quadri, to a church in Ijoko around 2pm on Tuesday. The father was said to have gone some distance ahead when the suspect ambushed the children and abducted Eniola.
The victim’s sister, Opeyemi, reportedly raised the alarm which caught the attention of some passersby.
The suspect was reportedly met in an uncompleted building while trying to strangle the girl.
An angry mob had beaten him up before the police arrived on the scene.
Ibikunle, who hails from Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, told our correspondent that Eniola was his second victim.
He said, “I am a bricklayer, but I use child abduction to augment my wages. A man in the Sango area contracted me to always get children for him. I don’t know what he uses them for. Last month, I abducted a boy of about three years and sold him to the man for N1,500.
“This girl (Eniola) was the second child I would abduct, but I did not succeed,” he said.
The Ogun State acting Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the suspect would be further investigated.
Photo: Punch
Punch learnt that Ibikunle, a bricklayer, had held his victim, Eniola, by the neck and was about to strangle her in an uncompleted building when he was caught by passersby.
The suspect, who confessed to have stolen a three-year-old boy and sold him for N1,500, was later handed over to operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Agbado Police Division.
According to investigations, Eniola and her 11-year-old sister, Opeyemi, were following their father, Segun Quadri, to a church in Ijoko around 2pm on Tuesday. The father was said to have gone some distance ahead when the suspect ambushed the children and abducted Eniola.
The victim’s sister, Opeyemi, reportedly raised the alarm which caught the attention of some passersby.
The suspect was reportedly met in an uncompleted building while trying to strangle the girl.
An angry mob had beaten him up before the police arrived on the scene.
Ibikunle, who hails from Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, told our correspondent that Eniola was his second victim.
He said, “I am a bricklayer, but I use child abduction to augment my wages. A man in the Sango area contracted me to always get children for him. I don’t know what he uses them for. Last month, I abducted a boy of about three years and sold him to the man for N1,500.
“This girl (Eniola) was the second child I would abduct, but I did not succeed,” he said.
The Ogun State acting Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the suspect would be further investigated.
Photo: Punch