The police in Enugu have arrested three persons, including a lady for allegedly stealing a 10-day old baby.
The suspects were arrested by the anti-kidnap unit of the state police command following the alarm raised by the mother of the child, identified as Chinenye Egwu from Oduma in Aninri local Government Area of the state.
Vanguard gathered that the plan to steal the baby boy was hatched by the suspects and others now at large after the woman put to bed and it was discovered that she had a male child and none of her relations was present.
She was said to have registered with the private hospital where she attended ante-natal before delivering her baby on February 10.
“The woman told the police that after delivering the baby she was in a very good condition and her baby was also healthy.
But suddenly one of the nurses gave her an injection and she went into a deep sleep. When she woke up the baby had disappeared. Upon inquiry from the nurses about the child’s hereabouts she was told that the baby had some problems and was taken away.
“Their explanation was not clear to her as she demanded to see the baby but when they failed to produce him that day she became suspicious that the hospital staff might be up to something funny.
She insisted that the baby must be produced but along the line, one of the suspects approached her and made an offer of N46,000 for the woman to forget about the baby.
“When she refused the offer, she was threatened by one of them, a development that forced her to raise an alarm and subsequently contacted the police.
She identified one of the suspects, who was picked up by the police while two other members of the gang were later apprehended,” the source narrated.
However, the child was recovered in the course of the investigation by the detectives but the suspects whom the police identified as Nwandi Chinenye (female), Friday Ude and Sylvester Ozollo, are currently being interrogated.
The State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, who confirmed the arrest of the suspects, advised members of the public to beware of the type of hospitals they send pregnant women for delivery to prevent such occurrence in future.
In another development, the police said a suspect who gave his name as Kenneth Ugwu had been apprehended for allegedly trading on fake currency.
He was reportedly arrested by the Nsukka Police Division on February 20 after a report that he was seen at Eha Alumona with 28 pieces of fake N1,000 note.
The PPRO said the fake currency was recovered from the suspect’s house when it was searched during investigations.
