Kidnappers use yoghurt to lure children in Lagos community
Iwaya, a densely populated area in Yaba Local Government Area of Lagos State, pulsed with the rhythm of daily life. People went about their routines, unaware of the sinister threat lurking in their midst. Amidst the hustle and bustle, a group of kidnappers preyed on the most vulnerable members of the community: children. Their modus operandi was chillingly consistent: luring kids with yoghurt, often when they were accompanied by older children.
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The kidnappings had become a disturbing pattern, with at least five children falling victims to this tactic. The community was on edge, but the kidnappers continued to strike, always seeming to be one step ahead. The victims all shared a similar story: a woman, often dressed in a hijab, would approach them, offer to buy yoghurt, and then disappear with the child.
The latest incident occurred on Friday, January 11,2025. Two siblings; Ubueda and Mohammed Naziru, aged eight and three respectively, were returning from Jumat prayers at a local mosque when they were targeted. A woman whose identity could not be immediately ascertained, was said to have covered herself with a hijab, apparently to appear as one of the women who had gone to observe the Jumat prayers too.
She handed the trusting older child a crumpled N500 note, deceiving her into running a seemingly innocent errand to buy yoghurt worth a mere N150. But when the innocent child returned, her younger brother had vanished, taken by the stranger. The disappearance of Naziru marked a devastating milestone: he became the fifth innocent child to vanish in the community within a shockingly short period.
Arrest
A search around the community yielded no result until Monday, January 13, 2024, when the woman resurfaced in the community. She was identified by Naziru’s eight-year-old sister as the alleged kidnapper. The suspect, as gathered, took to her heels but was caught by a mob who descended on her.
But for the swift arrival of policemen from the Sabo division, she would have been lynched.
The distraught father of the three-year-old boy, Alhaji Idris Adamu, lamented that his son’s whereabouts were still unknown, as the woman had refused to disclose where she kept him. To make matters worse, she allegedly pretended to be mentally deranged upon arriving at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), where she was transferred.
Father’s cry
According to the abducted child’s father, “I got a call at about 1 pm last Friday, informing me that my son had been kidnapped. I rushed to the house and found a mob descending on her. I begged them not to kill her because her death won’t bring my son back. I reported the matter to the Sabo Police division, and they brought a vehicle to convey her to the station. But because of the crowd that besieged the police station, the Police took the woman to SCID.
“I prayed fervently every day for the safety of my son and for the woman to be arrested. Indeed, God heard my prayer. The woman walked into the community, covering herself with the hijab, and was identified. Immediately she sighted my wife, she started running, and when she was caught, she said she wasn’t the one who kidnapped our son without being asked.
“The woman is not mad; she is only pretending. When she was apprehended, we found some pieces of paper in her possession where she wrote an address where they should keep the boy and the injection they should give to him to put him to sleep.
“She also wrote down many telephone numbers on some sheets of paper found in the multi-coloured purse that was found with her. All I want is my son. She should tell us where she kept him so that we can go and get him before any harm befalls him”.
Besides, the 40-year-old man also wondered why the woman, who had braids on as at the time of arrest, suddenly loosened them to change her looks to that of someone who had not combed her hair for months.
He therefore appealed to detectives at the SCID to do all they could, as fast as possible, to extract the truth that would lead to the rescue of his son from where the suspect kept him.
Meanwhile, detectives at the SCID said they would take the woman to a psychiatrist’s home to ascertain her mental state, as part of the investigation into the matter. It was also gathered that a man who initially claimed to be her father when the mob descended on her was picked by the police but later released.
