Boy kidnapped from Rivers State recovered in Ebonyi
Chinedu Nwafor, Abakaliki
Ebonyi state Command of the Nigerian Police Force, on Thursday, handed over a kidnapped 4-year old boy to his mother.
The boy who was abducted by suspected kidnapper in Rivers State was recovered by the police in Ebonyi, according to the spokesperson of Ebonyi State Police Command, Ms Chris Anyanwu.
Ms Anyanwu, a Superintendent of Police (SP) said that the little boy of 4 years whose name was given as Testimony from Omuma, Rivers state, was stolen from Eche local Government of Rivers State.
Anyanwu stated that the suspect had claimed to be the victim’s mother and a nurse. She added investigation into the matter showed that a different woman proved to be the authentic mother of the boy.
At conclusion of investigations, she said, the police handed over the little boy to his mother.
“Recall that last week, I paraded a syndicate that specializes in kidnapping, adopting, stealing and selling children.
“One of them happens to be a little boy simply known as Testimony was stolen from Port Harcourt. At that point, the suspect claimed that her mother is a nurse but however, we have contacted the mother of this little boy and she has proven beyond reasonable doubt that she is the biological mother of testimony, and we are here to hand her baby boy over to her which is the essence of this briefing.
“The syndicate comprises a young girl known as Precious and her cohort who is a male. Precious claimed that she gave birth to the baby and sold the baby; and then stole Testimony from her mother and took to a woman in Afikpo who in turn sold to a man that lives in Enugu.
“I want to tell you that D7 is a unit in state CID in Ebonyi state that is investigating this matter. They have not left any stone unturned until when they get to the root of all the mysteries surrounding the stealing of children which has been trending in recent times and police has done a very good job on it.
“SP Millicent Amadi who is in charge of this unit is the one that connected the mother of this child and she has also opened a lot of things while investigating this matter.
“Today, we want to hand over this boy, Testimony to his mother.”
In her reaction after receiving the boy from police, the boy’s mother, Mrs.Theresa Nweke, stated that she was living in the same compound with Precious who kidnapped her son, saying that she went to work when Precious traveled with the boy to unknown destination.
Mrs Theresa Nweke said: “Precious and her boy friend are living in the same yard with me.She is my friend to the extent that I started living my baby for her to go to work. I work for my Madam in restaurant. On 5th of August, by 4:30pm,Precious called me on phone that they have traveled and I asked her about my child, she said she traveled with him and if I need my child, I should bring 1.5 million and if I didn’t bring the money, I should forget about the child.
“Few days later, they called me and asked how much have I gotten and I told them that I have gotten 50,000 naira; they sent their account number and I paid the N50,000.
“After they have gotten the alert, they switched off their phone for one week. After one week, they called me again to send another 20,000 for their transport in order to bring the boy which I told him to send account but I don’t have money to pay again.
“I went to Rivers State CID to report the matter and I gave them her phone number which they used to track the child in Ebonyi state. They asked me to go and bring money in order to track the woman and they took N30,000 from me to write and submit my statement, they collected N15,000 from me. They asked me to go back and look for N80,000 so that they can start tracking the woman.
“As I went home to think about it, I received a call from Ebonyi State police CID asking whether I know a boy called Testimony, which I said, yes. They told me that my child is under their custody in State CID, Abakaliki, that I should come and pick him.
“I took the number that called back to Rivers state CID which the confirmed is from Ebonyi state CID. They asked me to bring money to transport them to Ebonyi to collect the child but I told them I don’t have another money because the money is too much. In Ebonyi, they said if I didn’t come fast, they will transfer the baby to state women welfare or motherless baby.
“I later came yesterday with the little money I gathered to Ebonyi and they child has been giving to me.”