A child found allegedly in a courier box of a dispatch rider last week was not stolen in Lagos state, police said in a statement on Monday.

Contrary to the claims on social media, police spokesman Adekunle Ajisebutu said the child was not found in the courier box.

“The child’s mother, Lovina Biturs, was contacted,” Ajisebutu said in the statement. “It was then revealed that the child was actually taken away and put on the dispatch motorbike by the rider with the consent of his mother.”

“According to the mother, the 10-month-old baby is fond of the rider who is a relative, a neighbour and was crying uncontrollably when he (rider) wanted to go pick up something in the neighbourhood. To pacify the baby, his mother allowed him go with the rider.”

The police spokesman said passersby who saw the child with the rider along Sangotedo area, Ajah on the said day, became suspicious and concluded that the child might have been stolen, raised the alarm which attracted a mob.

The rider was beaten without being given a chance to explain how the child came to be with him.

The dispatch rider later identified as Williams Tadule was said to have been rescued by the Chairman of the Sunview Estate, Sangotedo. (The Guardian)