The Imo State Police Command has
arrested two child snatching gangs whose businesses are to snatch children at
gun point and trade them.
The police also rescued two children
stolen from their parents more than a month ago.
This is even as the pupils of the St.
Joseph The Walker Nursery and Primary School Nekede Mechanic Village, Owerri
foiled an attempt by two young men to lure one of them away with an intention
of kidnapping him.
Parading the suspects before newsmen on
Monday in Owerri, the State Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Katsina disclosed
that his men arrested the first gang of five who went to Naifor-Ugbodogwu in
Ovia North East LGA of Edo State where they kidnapped a three year-old boy, Nse
Itere, in front of their compound.
The little boy, according to the police
boss, was stolen by one Nelson Dumdiri Okoji from Aniocha South LGA of Delta
State through his girlfriend in Benin, who lured the boy out of their compound
in the pretext that he was being taken to see his mother who was watching
football match in the field.
“They brought him to Ubah Agwa in Oguta
LGA in the house of one Haggai Eromaka who in company of his girlfriend,
Oluchi, took the innocent child to Dr. Francis Onyekoro from Amaimo in Ikeduru
LGA, Imo State, a homeopathic practitioner who has been impersonating as a
medical doctor at Godswill Divine Hospital, Eneka (PortHarcourt) in Rivers
State”, Mr. Katsina said.
The CP disclosed that Onyekoro who is a
fake doctor bought the child at N250,000 and in turn sold him to a retired
nurse, Mrs. Ngozi Samuel Chukwuka, a notorious child trafficker from Amumara in
Ezinihitte Mbaise LGA who runs a patent medicine shop (Heart Love) at No. 5
School Road/Oparaugo Street, Owerri and
had been severally involved in previous case.
The Police Chief added that Mrs. Chukwuka
bought the little Nse at the cost of N500,000 which was given to her by one
Mrs. Onyekaozuru as an advance payment for the baby boy.
He said the suspects were arrested when
they tried to move the little boy to PortHarcourt but one of them escaped with
the baby while the rest were arrested with three pistols.
Their arrest and subsequent
interrogation, he said, encouraged detectives to move to Godswill Divine
Hospital, Eneka and arrested the recipient, Dr. Onyekoro who led the police to Owerri
where he had sold the boy to Mrs Chukwuka at the sum of N500,000.
The Police Commissioner also paraded a
three-man gang whose modus operandi was to snatch children from their mothers
while they are being breast fed at gun point.
The gang which had been smashed by the
police allegedly had the following as notorious suspects: Mrs. Florence Ogbonna
from Uturu in Abia State with his son, Innocent Ogbonna who resides in Umudim
Lokpanta in Umunneochi LGA of Abia State and Chinweokwu Owunna from Ndiakunwanta
in Anambra State.
Mr. Katsina said they snatched a baby
girl at gun point from her mother but the police arrested them and rescued the
child who was traced to Lokpanta in Umunneochi LGA, Abia State.
He disclosed that the leader of the
gang, Mrs Florence Ogbonna had been arrested severally in the past.
According to the CP, she was on February
8, 2012, she was arrested with children and the sum of N386,000 was recovered
from her, adding that on January 1, 2013, she was arrested with three children
(victims) and an exhibit Toyota Camry car with number AE 816 YAB (Abuja) while
the case was still in court.
Items recovered from them included two
locally made pistols with 10 live cartridges, one motorcycle, wraps of
substances suspected to be heroine and Indian hemp, a wrap of juju, drugs and
hospital documents, etc.
The police boss explained that the gangs
move in three formidable structures made up of hunters whose role is to snatch
children at gun point and handover to the couriers trained to beat all security
apparatuses as they escape to their destinations and the landlord who harbours,
negotiates and sells the human product to their nocturnal buyers.
He appealed to parents, community elders
and other stakeholders to always monitor the movement of their kids and to
report any suspicious presence of persons to the nearest police station or call
07031558923, 08033400618, 08033424051 0r 08108645753.
Meanwhile, school pupils of St. Joseph
The Walker Nursery and Primary School, Nekede Mechanic Village, have foiled an
attempt to kidnap one of them.
Narrating the story to worshippers at
the St. Joseph The Walker Catholic Church, the parish priest, Rev. Fr. Anselm
Onyeka penultimate Sunday said two men who came to the church/school premises
penultimate Wednesday lured one of the pupils with biscuits but as they were moving away into the waiting tricycle(keke), some of the children raised an alarm, prompting some passers-by to come in.
This caused the men to escape, leaving the little boy behind.
Consequently, the priest has banned any unapproved visit to the church or school premises beyond 8am on working days
