Residents of Qadiri Close in Ojuelegba area of Lagos have allegedly foiled a kidnapped attempt by a woman identified as Mrs Grace Uduak.
The suspect was apprehended with a seven-year-old girl, identified as Khadijat.
It was gathered that Uduak, 30, lured the girl with some snacks but was nabbed by some resident while she was about to leave the area with the victim.
Uduak was alleged to have given the victim who was in her parents’ house, some snacks before asking her to follow her.
According to an eyewitness, Joseph Adebiyi, Uduak whispered something into Khadijat’s ears before giving her the snack.
Adebiyi further disclosed that when residents confronted Uduak, she said, she only asked the girl to lead her to a toilet as she was pressed.
He said, “I was with a friend when I saw Mariam ─ Khadijat’s neighbour ─ running after the woman. The woman had already walked four houses from the building where she abducted the girl before Mariam met up with her and challenged her. I moved closer to them to know what happened. She said the girl wanted to take her to a toilet.
“The girl was brought to Lagos by her aunty three days before the incident. The aunty was not around at that time. That house is usually deserted. She actually went into the house to pick her.”
Adebiyi added that some traders in the area pleaded on her behalf but he and other residents insisted that she be handed over to the police.
He noted, “We called the Area C Police Command and some policemen came to arrest her.”
The Lagos State Police Spokesperson, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, however rebuffed the allegation that the suspect was a kidnapper, adding that she had only sought the girl’s assistance.
“The woman works with Akwa Ibom Transport Cooperation and she was sent to deliver a parcel, but was pressed and needed direction to the convenience. She engaged the girl. But the people around interpreted it that she was trying to kidnap the girl,” Nwosu stressed.
Comments