Ogbonnaya Ikokwu, Umuahia
A child traffic suspect identified as
Roland Egbe, who was paraded by the Commissioner of Police in Abia
State, Mr. Adeleye Oyebade, at the police officers mess in Umuahia, the
Abia State capital, has confessed that he bought fried yam to attract
the two kids he allegedly stole from their parents.
The suspect added that he handed the
children over to his friend identified only as Uche, who in turn sold
them to one Chioma Ohajimadu and Mrs. Comfort Ogbonnaya who reside at
No. 69, Ososu road, Aba.
Egbe, who claimed to be a ticket seller
at Oyigbo in Rivers State, said Uche introduced him to child trafficking
business and persuaded him to get a child urgently as a buyer was
already waiting to pay for the child.
He said, “One evening, about two weeks
ago, I went to eat at Oyigbo roundabout, Uche started calling me
repeatedly to get the child he told me to bring. But I told him that I
know the parents of the child I wanted to bring to him and I don’t want
to hurt them. However, he insisted that I should bring the child.
“After speaking with him, I asked him to
come around and wait for me. Then I went to where the children normally
gather to play around the area because the little boy, Marvellous
Heart, normally comes to me each time I am around his mother’s shop.
“When he saw me that evening, he ran to
me and l bought sweets for him; from there, I carried him and met Uche,
who was waiting for me at a distance. That was how we took the boy to
Aba. He gave me N50,000 only and promised to pay me the balance later.
“But after some days, the woman that
bought the boy started calling me to complain that she doesn’t want the
boy again, that we should bring another child for her. That was how Uche
forced me to go and steal another child for the woman.
“The second time, I saw some children
around a spot where they sell fried yam around Imo River and bought some
fried yam for them. When I was leaving, I left with one of them.”
Narrating his ordeal, the father of the
boy, Mr. Shedrach Heart, said he reported the incident to the police at
Obehie when his child got missing and went to his church for prayers,
where he was assured that his child would come back alive.
Heart said, “Roland has been our family
friend, any time he comes around to play Loto around my wife’s shop, my
child normally runs to him and the two of them will stay together until
he leaves. On that fateful day, my boy ran to him and he carried him to
buy something for him. From there, he took him away.”
The illegal adopter of the stolen
children, Chioma Ohajimadu, also confessed to the crime, adding that she
could not afford to adopt a child through the normal process because it
was exorbitant for her.
She explained that she later resorted to use a man who promised to help her to adopt one at a cheaper rate.
She said, “I’m a widow with a son of
about 17-years-old. But I needed another baby in my family. The Uche in
question was my primary school student.
“When we met at Aba, he told me he works
with the motherless baby’s home and I informed him that I needed to
adopt a baby and I have gone round, but the price they were giving me
was exorbitant.
“He promised to help me out since he
works with them. So, about two weeks ago, on the 18th of November, he
called to inform me that he has got the baby for me. He brought the boy
to my house with Roland.
“I spent one night with the baby and
found out that he was too rough for my liking. So, I called him to come
and take the baby and get another one that will be calm for me. But he
said he can’t take back the boy again, that he finished the registration
of his adoption at the motherless baby’s home.
“That was why I called a woman that
works at another motherless baby’s home and asked her if she knows of
any woman that needs a child and she said yes and asked her to bring the
woman to take the boy they brought for me because I don’t want him
again.
“She asked me to bring the child and
she then invited Comfort Ogbonnaya to take the boy, it was in the
process of adopting the second baby that I was arrested by the police.”
Speaking while parading the suspects,
Oyebade said Egbe was earlier arrested and paraded for child trafficking
on December 7, 2016, before the operatives attached to the Special
Anti-Robbery Squad at Obehie rescued the four-year-old Heart stolen
about two weeks ago.
The Commissioner of Police warned
parents to monitor their children closely and warn them to stop
accepting gifts from strangers and people around them this Christmas
period.
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