A mother and her young son were allegedly subjected to a frightening ordeal at an airport check-in after another woman snatched the child and refused to give him back, insisting that, ‘God told her to do it’
A mother has reportedly endured a terrifying ordeal at an airport after another woman snatched her young child and claimed that he was her son.
At first, it appeared that the accused was simply being a Good Samaritan. The four-year-old boy had been crying at an airport checkpoint, and so, when Alvina Omisiri Agba approached, the unnamed mother accepted her offer to hold him and help calm him down.
But as soon as she handed the child over to Agba, things allegedly took a frightening turn. Agba, 23, of Luton, England, allegedly made off with the little boy and refused to hand him back over.
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As reported by the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, the incident occurred yesterday (September 2) at approximately 4:30 am at the check-in counter of Miami International Airport. GlobalX supervisor Dayanis Ojeda, who witnessed the incident, told Local10.com: “One of the passengers had a child in her hands – she was going to check in – and at the check-in time, another passenger took the baby from the mother’s hands and wanted to take the baby from her, slammed the baby on the floor a couple of times.”
According to Ojeda, her colleague, Naylet Montano, rushed toward Agba after screams were heard and grabbed the child back. Ojeda shared: “Once (my colleague) took the baby to the counter, the lady went inside the counter and we called 911.”
The police report does not mention the child being slammed on the floor. The report confirms the allegation that the mother allowed Agba to hold the boy, following her offer of help, only for Agba to then walk away from the line, with the child.
The mother then followed Agba, who she eventually found sitting on the floor. When she asked for her son back, Agba replied, “No, this is my child,” even wrapping her arms and legs around the four-year-old to stop him from moving.
The victim attempted to pull the boy away, and Agba allegedly then pushed her and grabbed hold of her son’s legs. Hearing the chaos unfold, Montano grabbed the child and took him behind the counter with her. Refusing to give up, Agba allegedly walked beneath the counter, demanding that Montano “give her back her child”. Three men then stood in front of Montano, stopping Agba from seizing the boy.
In a separate interview with 7News, conducted through a translator, Montano told her side of the story in Spanish, recalling: “I ran to see what was going on.” A mother herself, heroic Montano explained that once she saw that the child appeared to be in danger, she wanted to do whatever she could to keep him safe.
She alleged: “I saw a woman on the floor grabbing onto the child tightly, and in that moment, I felt the child was in danger. I grabbed him, ran with him, and she came after me in an attempt to take him. I wouldn’t let her. I ran behind the counter and crouched down, shielding the child.”
Agba attempted to run away from the scene, but it wasn’t long before deputies caught up with her at another checkpoint and put her under arrest. The suspect initially claimed that she had simply been trying to take the child to a wall that had a rainbow on it, believing this could soothe him. However, she then changed her story, asserting that “she only did it because God told her to do it.”
After being arrested on charges of battery and interference with custody, Agba was taken to Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Centre, where she’s currently being held on a $3,500 (£2,600) bond. It’s understood that the unnamed child suffered a few deep scratches to the neck during his ordeal, but was thankfully well enough to continue his onward journey with his mother.
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