The police command in Delta said a suspect, Joy Temitope, has been arrested for stealing a two-month-old baby.
Ms Temitope was accused of drugging the baby’s mother before stealing the child on February 16, 2025.
A spokesperson for the command, Bright Edafe, in a statement on X on Monday, said the 49-year-old suspect fled with the baby after the drugged 20-year-old mother fell asleep.
Mr Edafe said, “The suspect, Mrs Joy Temitope, aged 49 years, lured and deceived a 20-year-old girl who had a two-month-old baby. She drugged the girl and stole her baby somewhere in Koko, Delta State.
“Acting on intelligence-driven policing, the suspect was arrested three months later, and the baby boy, who is now five months old, was rescued and reunited with his mother,” said Mr Edafe.
Explaining further in a video attached to the statement, Mr Edafe said the suspect, who pretended to be her friend, deceived her that they were going to Koko market before giving her the drink.
“Unknown to her, that drink had been drugged. She was carrying a two-month-old baby as at then. Having taken that drink, she slept off and lost consciousness. That was how the suspect made away with the baby,” the officer stated.
The child’s mother, during police interrogation, said the suspect asked her to know where she stayed, but that when they arrived at Warri, she gave her Five Alive to drink inside a vehicle before she started feeling sleepy.
She, however, stated that the suspect was arrested in Ughelli on April 29, 2025.
According to the police, the suspect admitted to the crime “because my children are already big and that they will soon get admission to the university, and I don’t have any child around me again”.
