Edo Police Successfully Retrieve 14-Month-Old Baby After Caregiver’s Abduction Mishap

Edo State’s Police Commissioner, CP Umoru Ozigi, shared details with the media over the weekend about the troubling case involving a kidnapped child. The child, a 17-month-old girl named Grace Osamagbe, was abducted by her caretaker, Rejoice Chukwu, and her accomplice, Destiny Uchechukwu, in April 2024. They allegedly sold her for N500,000 to Doris Chiwendu in Owerri, even after demanding a ransom of N160,000 from the girl’s family.

 

The Edo State Police Command successfully rescued a 17-month-old baby, Grace Osamagbe, who was kidnapped by her house help in Benin City.

Commissioner CP Umoru Ozigi revealed that Chukwu and her boyfriend, Uchechukwu, were responsible for the kidnapping that took place in April 2024. Despite collecting a ransom of N160,000 from the parents, they sold the child for N500,000 to a woman named Doris Chiwendu.

Jacob Egharevba, a resident of Iguosa Housing Estate in Oluku, reported that his granddaughter Grace was taken by her house help in April 2024. As a result, the Anti-Kidnapping and Cyber Crime Unit apprehended Rejoice Samuel Chukwu, 24, and her boyfriend Destiny Uchechukwu, 28, at Peptic Junction in Akwa-Ibom state.

“The suspects admitted to the abduction and acknowledged collecting the ransom of N160,000,” stated the CP. They later confessed to selling the victim for N500,000 to Doris Chiwendu in Imo State.

On November 9, 2024, authorities arrested Doris Chiwendu and Jane Amaigbo in the Ubomiri area of Imo State. The victim, now 1 year and 2 months old, was safely returned to her family.

“Legal action against the suspects will commence shortly,” CP Ozigi concluded.