From Nweke Nweke, Onitsha
As trafficking of Children today become most ‘lucrative’ business in AnambraState, the outgoing administration of His Excellency, Mr. Peter Gregory Obi has not relented in giving the people without the fear of God a hot chase. The war against human traffickers, which has portrayed the State as a place where children are sold like foul has called as the owner would know.
However, the syndicate that specialized in stealing children from Calabar, CrossRiversState now sees Onitsha as their selling point, having used Umunna Community Children’s Home, Onitsha as their ‘Main Market’.
However, luck ran out of two members of the syndicate when they were apprehended by policemen attached to the Okpoko police division at the Akwa Ibom Park along Onitsha-Owerri road axis when a woman whose identity was concealed by the police was arrested for allegedly stealing two babies from Calabar and sold them in the commercial city of Onitsha via Umunna Community Children’s Home.
In the same vein, another woman suspected to be member of a dangerous child trafficking syndicate that specialized in stealing children from their parents at Calabar and other parts of the South West Geopolitical zone was also arrested by operatives of the Special Anti Robbery Squad, SARS, attached to Okpoko police Division at Calabar Motor Park, Onitsha-Owerri road.
247ureports gathered that the suspects who went under interrogations at the Divisional Police Officers, DPO’s office CSP Emeka Ugwu were arrested following a tip off by some staff of the Akwa Ibom motor park and passersby who noticed the suspicious movements of the suspects which led to their arrests.
According to one of the eyewitnesses simply identified as Obinna, one of the suspects was a regular visitor to the park, adding that she always come to the park on weekly basis with different children after which she will return to Calabar leaving those children behind.
Obinna further disclosed that the one that attracted the interests of the workers was the day the suspect came into the park in a vehicle belonging to the Transport Company of AnmabraState, TRACAS with a new born baby with stain of blood.
“The lady comes to the park almost every week, at times two weeks interval and we discovered that each time she appeared, she had two or three children mostly day old and one week old children. There was a day she carried a baby with stain of blood showing that the child was just delivered. So today (yesterday) she came in with TRACAS bus from Calabar and because we have been monitoring her, she had two children when she came; but when she finished her business, she resurfaced again to board a bus back to Calabar without those two kids, that was when we confirmed our suspicion and invited the police “Obinna stated.
Obinna also disclosed that another thing that raised suspicion over the movement of the suspect included the fact that each time she visited Onitsha with different children under the ages of 2 years to one day old, she never went back with such children, a situation he said could not be unconnected to child trafficking.
Meanwhile, 247ureports gathered that upon interrogations according to our police source who pleaded anonymity, the suspects who are citizens of Calabar confessed that they have been in the business of ferrying children from the area to Onitsha for some time now, adding that the two children they came to sell in the commercial city of Onitsha were a baby boy of 1 month and a baby girl of 2 months old whom they confessed they sold to their buyers at Umunya, Oyi council area of Anambra state.
Speaking on the development, Mr. Emeka Ejide, Director, Child Development in Ministry of Women Affairs said yesterday that the ministry will today (04/03/2014) closed down Umunna Community Children’s Home, Onitsha for having left the home to be used by children trafficking syndicate.
Similarly, little Chidalu Nwite who disappeared from Christian Compassionate Motherless Babies Home, Obosi, Idemili North Council Area of Anambra state few days now resurfaced at Egbema Ozubulu in Ekwusigo local Government Area.
It would be recalled that the father of the missing but now recovered baby boy, Mr. Sunday Nwite and Mrs. Goodness Ogazi, the matron of the home has been on the dagger drawn on the circumstances surrendering the disappearance of the boy whom the mother delivered under chain as an insane person.
Nwite had accused the matron of the home to have sold his son while the woman also accused Nwite of having sent his friends to the home for the abduction of the baby boy. But on the 10th day of January, 2014, at about 21.00 hours, the Chidalu Nwite was packaged in cellophane bag and drooped him at the road side in Egbema Ozubulu in Ekwusigo
Before the recovery of the little boy born in a special circumstance, Nwite had alleged that the husband of the matron of Christian Compassionate Motherless Babies Home, Obosi, Idemili North Council Area of Anambra state had allegedly hired assassins and they set him and his property ablaze.
The baby boy that was kept in one of the best children’s hospital in Awka, the State capital following the illness that struck him down on recovery has been moved to government owned Community Children’s Home, Awka even as the Director of Child Development in the Ministry of Women Affiars, Mr. Emeka Ejide has vowed to release the boy to his biological father any moment from now.
Controversy also thrilled yesterday between Mr. Sunday Nwite and Mrs. Goodness Ogazi on whom to offset the hospital bill incurred by the baby during treatment. First, Mrs. Goodness who spoke through her husband, Rev. Chika Ogazi said Mr. Nwite is to offset the bill on the ground that their home has sent much amount of money while searching for the baby.
Mr. Nwite on his own part said he is not going pay any dime on the fact according to him that the matter must end in court of law. He made clear that it is only the Court of law that will determine the case. Nwite wondered why the Investigation Police Officer, IPO from Umuahia was persuading him to close the case.
“I am yet to know the interest of my IPO and the Chukwudi Chukwuenyem of Radio Nigeria as these people are paid by Rev. Chika Ogazi and his wife, Mrs. Goodness Ogazi. They are mounting pressure on me to close the case and the worst of it all is that Chukwudi Chukwuenyem of Radio Nigeria, a journalist who ought to be neutral in the matter has taken sight just to pocket in undisclosed amount of money given to him by Rev. Chika Ogazi and his wife, Mrs. Goodness Ogazi” Nwite ended.
Meanwhile, Sunday has given the condition for him to collect the baby from Government owned Community Children’s Home, which include, proper medical examination; this according to him was for him to ascertain the health condition of his son who has been on the hands of yet to be known people.
