Nigerian jailed six months for attempted kidnapping

The Osu Community Tribunal on Thursday sentenced Osarentin Osagie, a Nigerian businessman, to six months imprisonment for attempting to kidnap a baby boy from his mother. Osagie, 29, pleaded guilty.

The tribunal, chaired by Mrs Ivy Heward-Mills, ordered that Osagie should be repatriated after serving the sentence.

Police Inspector Johnson Anim, prosecuting, said at about 0600 hours on December 14, this year, Madam Adjoa Dee, a trader, visited her friend opposite the Ams Hotel at Kokomlemle in Accra with her three-year-old baby boy.

He said while conversing with her friend, a taxi pulled up beside them. Osagie emerged from the taxi and attempted to snatch the boy from the arms of his mother.

The accused tried to convince the people around that Adjoa was his wife but Adjoa staunchly denied and managed to save the baby from being kidnapped, dislocating his arm in the process. The prosecutor said the people at the scene arrested Osagie and sent him to the police station.