Naval rating accused of killing baby walks free

A naval rating, Joseph Moses, who allegedly colluded with some hoodlums to kidnap his three-month-old baby and later threw him into the lagoon at Liverpool area of Apapa, Lagos, has yet to be arrested.

But the spokesperson for the state police command, Mr. Joseph Jaiyeoba, said there was nothing unusual about that because the suspect was a military man.

Jaiyeoba said, “Something you must understand is that, there are procedures that need to be followed when a military personnel is accused of a criminal act.

“Even if he had been initially arrested, the police would still have to refer him to military authorities, who would exert their own disciplinary action before handing him over to the police.”

According to Jaiyeoba, the present situation notwithstanding, the State Criminal Investigations Department, where the case is being investigated, has the authority to arrest any suspect no matter the person’s status.

Two suspects in custody of the SCID, Messrs Peter Elias and Amadu Bello, had accused the naval rating for being behind the kidnap of the baby.

They also alleged that the policemen at Ajeromi Police Station, Ajegunle, where the case was first reported, had released four other suspects in the case after they paid 20,000 each to the investigating police officers.

The duo, who said they did not know about the plan, noted that the suspects that were freed were actually the ones that aided Moses to carry out the plan.

Meanwhile, the police spokesperson said there was no truth in the duo’s allegation.

He said, “Police do not grant bail to suspects in a murder case, that’s something people need to understand.

“In fact, the Commissioner of Police summoned the Divisional Police Officer of Ajoromi and asked him about the issue and he cleared the air that no such thing happened.”

The three-week-old baby, a love child between the naval rating and a woman, identified simply as Happiness was said to have been kidnapped on February 10, after Moses denied that he was the baby’s father.

The two suspects at the SCID confessed that Moses put the baby in a carton and threw her into the lagoon.

PUNCH Metro learnt that Bello, a motorcyclist, in his confessional statement, said on February 10, Joseph had invited him to take him to somewhere.

He said when they got to Liverpool Bridge, Moses got down and threw a carton in the lagoon.

Bello said after he was arrested, he later learnt that the carton Moses threw in the lagoon contained his baby.