MISSING BOY: Three Women Are Claiming Same Child
The Lagos State Police Command has countered a statement by a woman, Joy Iheanacho, that her son had been given to another woman by Alakara Police Station.
Joy had in a viral video alleged that the police officers asked her to give money for transportation” to enable them facilitate the release of the child where he was being kept.
According to her, Chibuike Iheanacho, went missing from home in Imo State four years ago on his way home from school and was thereafter found in Lagos State.
According to her, a Facebook user, Lincoln Damien, announced weeks ago that one Chibuike was rescued by the police and urged members of the public who recognised the boy to come forward with evidence.
The Facebook post reads, “We found a child by the name, Chibuike Ogbonna, who is nine years old. He is fair in complexion and speaks English and Igbo languages. He hails from Agba in Oboama, Ohaji Local Government Area of Imo State. He is presently in Ojo Police Division, Lagos State.
“The Lagos State Police Command gratefully assisted and reposted so that if any of his family members see it, they can call this number.”
Joy, however, claimed she was asked to bring N200,000 but did not have it.
She said, “What brought me here is that I was looking for my child for about four years now. The boy was returning from school and I didn’t see him.
“I then saw a post on Facebook that he had been found. I then went to the police station. I now went to the Alakara Police Station. They now asked me for his birth certificate, immunisation card and antenatal cards. I brought all the documents and then asked them to give me my child, they still refused.
“The police explained that one woman came from Imo State and they had given the boy to her. And as they had carried my son to Imo State, the police asked me to bring N200,000 so that they can go to Imo State and bring back my child.”
Reacting to her claim, however, the command’s police spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi, said the allegations made by
the ‘mother of the child’ were untrue.
He stated that about three women had already claimed to be the mother of the boy.
Adejobi described the case as very delicate hence it is being investigated by the police in collaboration with the Imo State Command to retrieve the boy and commence further probe.
He said, “The command has been briefed on this case. The allegation of the woman in this video is false and unfounded as the command is having three (3) mothers claiming a boy. The boy allegedly got missing sometime (ago) but was found at Ojo Division, Lagos.
“He was later taken to the Juvenile Welfare Centre at Alakara for investigation. A woman came to claim him and sent him to another woman in Imo State. This woman in the video appeared on Friday to claim the same boy that she was told that he had been seen and published on Facebook.
“So she had not even set her eyes on the boy before she started claiming the boy and accusing the police baselessly. The case is a complex and sensitive one. The command will be professional about it and make sure the facts emerge.
“We are on it and we will do the needful as urgently as possible. We are working with the Imo State Command to retrieve the boy and commence further police actions.”
