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 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.
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