Ogun State, Nigeria: Woman who abducted 3-yr-old girl at RCCG Redemption Camp nabbed by police

The police apprehended the suspect as she made to retrieve the child after a RCCG children party.

Anuoluwapo Joshua, 28, a woman believed to have abducted a three-year-old girl named Patience at the Redemption Camp of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) has been nabbed by policemen in Ogun State.

The suspect who was arrested on Friday, December 29, 2017, reportedly carried out the abduction in July 2017.

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According to Punch News, Patience's mother discovered that she was missing after returning from an errand. Since this period, there have been futile efforts to recover the little girl until recently.

This was confirmed by Mr. Abimbola Oyeyemi, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for Ogun State, who mentioned that the suspect was apprehended at the youth center of the church camp ground located along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

“Luck ran against the suspect on December 29 when the child was sighted inside the Youth centre at the Redemption Camp during the children’s end of the year party, organised by the RCCG.

“The Divisional Police Officer, Redemption Camp Division, Olaiya Martins, led detectives to the centre where they waited until the end of the programme. As soon as the suspect came out to pick the child, she was promptly arrested.

“She admitted that she lured the child out of her parents’ sight and took her to Ofada, where she has been taking care of the child since then.

“Investigation further revealed that the suspect had earlier got pregnant for somebody in Lagos, but travelled to the North where she claimed she had been delivered of a baby girl.

“But when she returned from the North, she did not return with the baby. This made the man who impregnated her to put pressure on her to bring his child.

“She informed her relatives that she was travelling to Nasarawa State to bring the child, but went to the Redemption Camp where she stayed for some days before stealing the child which she presented to her relations as her daughter," the PPRO said in a report filed by Punch.

The rate of kidnapping in Nigeria

Kidnapping has been one of the major headaches on a Nigerian society known for a wide practice of ritual killings. If it is for the latter reason, suspects who engage in the activity often get involved based on an intention to receive a ransom from the family of their victims.

The story of notorious abductor, Chukwudidumeme Onuamadike, 36, also known as Evans is the most recent in a list of high profile cases.

His arrest uncovered a chain of criminal activities that have seen to deaths and forced payment of money.

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During an interrogation conducted by the police, he confessed to being behind notable abductions in places like Lagos, Port-Harcourt, Onitsha and Aba.

A majority of his victims were wealthy people who originated from the eastern and Southern part of Nigeria.

Evans once attempted the capture of Chief Vincent Obianodo, the owner of the Young Shall Grow Motors which saw the deaths of the latter's driver and some policemen.

The incident happened in Festac Town, Lagos.