Mrs Blessing Imarhiagbe

Jethro Ibileke/Benin

The Proprietress of God’s Orphanage Home, in Benin, Edo State, Mrs. Kehinde Blessing Imarhiagbe, has been paraded by the police, for complicity in the alleged theft of a four-year-old-baby girl.

The victim was said to have been stolen by a ma somewhere in Lagos and taken to the suspect’s orphanage located along Siluko Road, in Benin.

Speaking to journalisits while parading Mrs. Imarhiagbe, the State Police Commissioner, Mr. Babatunde Kokumo, described the activity of the suspect as unwholesome, adding that the stolen girl was “found at the orphanage under questionable circumstances.”

Speaking in her defense, Mrs. Imarhiagbe, said the baby was brought to her Orphanage home by a man she identified simply as Emeka, who allegedly claimed to be the father of the child, adding that he had lost the mother.

The orphanage proprietress who said since she did not suspect any foul play, did not bother to probe the true identity of the baby, especially when Emeka was visiting her orphanage home every week.

She however said she was surprised to received a phone call while she was attending a church programme in Sapele, Delta State, that the police was looking for her in connection with a child allegedly stolen in Lagos.

She said on arriving Benin, she surrendered herself to the police and that since her arrest all efforts to reach Emeka have not been successful as Emeka has since switched off his phone.