A suspected kidnapper whose identity is yet to be known, escaped death by the whiskers during mob attack who accused him of stealing of a beggar’s child at Mokola in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital on Saturday.
The suspect, according to a witness intended to explored the vulnerability of the female beggar, identified as Suwebat Ibrahim, by getting close to her through chatting.
The beggar who is said to be of Hausa extraction was said to have opened her palms, gesticulating that she did not understand what the thief was saying.
“He thereafter offered the female beggar some money, but before she could guess the child thief’s intention, he pulled her two-year-old son, Abdulkadir Ibrahim, from her back and ran towards a waiting Micra cab,” the witness said.
This made the female beggar to cry before one of her colleagues raised the alarm which attracted the people nearby.
“The thief’s attempt to quickly get into the waiting cab failed, as he could not open the door. The Micra cab’s driver sped off immediately he saw the crowd moving closer.
“This made the thief run into a shop at Mokola market where live chickens are sold, and it was there people grabbed him, rescued the child from him and brought him out to the road side.
It was further gathered that Ibrahim who had two other children, quickly put her son on her back again, grasped the hands of the two children, crossed the road and hurried towards Sabo area of the city, which was close by.
The suspect, DAILY POST learnt tried to defend himself before the police was invited to rescue him.
He said “If you say someone took something, bring the thing out now. Is there anybody saying that I stole her child?”
A member of the crowd was heard saying that the police should be invited, while another said that someone should bring a knife to slaughter the thief.
The mob had already got a disused tyre to hang on the suspect’s neck and set him ablaze when policemen from Mokola Division who got information reportedly went to scene to rescued the suspect and he was taken into custody.
He was eventually rushed to the Police Hospital at Eleiyele, Ibadan as a result of the injuries inflicted on him by the mob.
Police Public Relations Officer of the state Police Command, ASP Adekunle Ajisebutu confirmed the incident to journalists.
He, however, said that the suspect was yet to be identified because he had not spoken since he was taken into custody.
“Oyo command got a report at about 9:30 a.m. that a young man was about to be lynched by an angry mob at NEPA area of Mokola, Ibadan.
“Policemen from Mokola Division rushed to the scene, rescued the suspect and took him into custody. He was said to have stolen a two-year-old child, Abdulkadir Ibrahim, from his mother, Suwebat.”
Ajisebutu later led journalists to the Accident and Emergency section of the Police Hospital, where the suspect was seen handcuffed to the bed on which he was being treated.
Attempts to get the suspect, who had a swollen, bleeding face, to talk proved abortive because he did not respond to questions asked by journalists.
