Female apprentice disappears with madam’s baby in Osun

• NSCDC laments persistent abduction of children

A female apprentice, simply identified as Tawa, has reportedly abducted her employer’s child on her first day at work. Tawa was said to have disappeared with the 15-month-old male child at the Osunjela community, along the Ilesa Garage area of Osun State, on August 2, 2024.

Confirming the incident yesterday in a statement, the spokesperson for Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Osun State Command, Kehinde Adeleke, said the female suspect had approached the woman to learn how to make bags.

Adeleke said: “On August 2, it was reported at the command’s headquarters, along Iwo-Ibadan Road, Osun State, that a male child aged one year and three months was kidnapped at Osunjela, along Ilesa Garage.

“Investigation revealed that a family friend, Sodiq, introduced one lady, Tawa, to the baby’s mother. Sodiq said Tawa wanted to learn how to make bags from the woman.

“The first day the suspect came to work, she carried the baby, pretending to be playing with him. Afterwards, she went out with the baby’s 10-year-old elder sister, who was sent on an errand alongside the younger brother. While on their way, Tawa asked the baby’s elder sister to go and deliver potatoes to the mother. However, Tawa took away the baby.”

The police spokesperson said the command received two other reports of child kidnapping across the state, expressing concern over a surge in the incidents.

“Also, on the same day, there was a report that a three-year-old child went missing at Ifesowapo Street, Owode, Osogbo, Osun State. Investigation revealed that the child was last seen playing in a shop, and his whereabouts have not been known until now.

“Another five-month-old female child belonging to hearing impaired parents in Agbeye town, Odo-Otin Local Council of Osun State, was kidnapped on Tuesday, August 27, in a farm where her mother was gathering firewood.

“The child was laid under a shade of trees so the mother could quickly finish packing the firewood. By the time the mother went back to breastfeed the baby, she was nowhere to be found,” Adeleke added.