Woman Pretends to Be Mentally Ill After Allegedly Abducting 3-Year-Old Boy in Lagos

 

A woman suspected of abducting three-year-old Mohammed Naziru reportedly pretended to be unaware of the situation to evade answering questions about the incident.

Naziru, accompanied by his eight-year-old sister, was returning home from the mosque after prayers on Friday, January 10, in the Iwaya area of Lagos, when the abduction occurred.

The suspect, dressed in a hijab to blend in with the other Muslim women at the mosque, allegedly gave Naziru's sister N500 to purchase ice cream worth N150 and kept Naziru with her while the girl went to buy it.

When the sister returned, both the woman and Naziru had vanished. Despite a search of the area, Naziru could not be found.

On Monday, January 13, 2024, the sister spotted the woman again in the neighborhood and immediately recognized her as the one who had taken Naziru. She raised the alarm, and a crowd quickly gathered. The suspect attempted to flee but was caught and beaten by the mob.

Police from the Sabo Division intervened and took the woman into custody, transferring her to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further questioning.

At the SCID, the woman allegedly claimed to be mentally ill in an attempt to avoid revealing the boy's whereabouts.

Naziru’s father, Alhaji Idris Adamu, expressed frustration over the woman’s refusal to disclose where his son was taken and urged authorities to intensify their investigation to locate Naziru.

Detectives at the SCID revealed that they planned to have the woman examined at a psychiatric hospital to determine her mental condition.