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 said that after Brown had given birth to the child, Ajibola refused to allow the child access to immunization.
As a result, the child was said to have contracted polio disease and subsequently became crippled.
Lagos Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Damasus Ozoani, said 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 immunized against the
Polio virus.”
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 immunize children, he said he would not allow the child
to be immunized, saying the drugs had been poisoned. Once, when I tried
to leave, he threatened to kill me.”
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.-PUNCH
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