° Warns, families, Churches, Schools, others
The Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team( IRT), has raised the alarm that child’s theft syndicates are on the prowl. IRT has therefore warned families, religious homes, especially Churches to be careful as their children are the targets.
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The team, led by DCP Abba Kyari, who smashed one of the child trafficking syndicate that steal kids between the ages on one to three- years- old and selling them to waiting buyers also warned landlords to be thorough when they are giving out their apartments to people who come to rent as their children and that of the community may be at risk. Already, I2 suspects have been arrested six stolen and sold children have been rescued by the IRT operatives.
Members of the syndicate operated in several states of the country including the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, were in several groups, one of which involved a couple, Ifeoma Ebony and Emmanuel Onyekwere, who go around the country stealing the children and selling to middle-men, who then resell to people in dire need of children.
Ebony, and her boyfriend, Onyekere, abducted several children from their homes and Churches in Abia, Enugu, Abuja, and Edo State, which they sold to their buyers Blessing Nwankwo, Chioma Nike, and one Onwa. They sold the children between the range of N250,000 and N450,000 each, depending on the sex and Physical Condition Of the Child.
Their mode of operations was to move from States to State, rent a new apartment and understudy the area, steal children and move to other places. A source at IRT who spoke on the condition of anonymity as he was not supposed to speak to the press said: The syndicate is heartless as their members do not spare anyone, they can sell their relatives. Just like Onyekwere, who sold his elder sister’s child. She said;
“I didn’t attend secondary school, because my father married two wives and he couldn’t send me to school as he had so many children he couldn’t cater to.“I was married off to an old man at a very young age and the old man died two years into our marriage leaving me with two children. When things became difficult for me and my children after the death of my husband, I took my children to my mother in the village and I traveled to Abuja to engage in prostitution. Hear Ebony: “I spent seven years as a prostitute in Abuja, before one of my friends advised me to relocate to Oba town in Anambra State where I would make more money doing prostitution in that town.
I took the advice and relocated, but after one year, a girl, Ogula, from Benue State, told me that a nurse asked her to look for someone to get pregnant and when she delivered, the child would be taken from her and she would be paid.“I told her that I could not do such because I have two children and I was not ready to get pregnant again. She then took me to her village where She stole a female child and handed over to me. But while I was leaving with the child I was arrested by some security men and taken to prison where I spent six months.
“This incident was in 2017 and while in prison, I met Ada, who had finished serving her prison term. Ada gave me her phone number while she was leaving. I called her when I was released and she gave me a job at her shop in Umuahia, Abia State, where she sold drinks. One of her customers, Onwa, approached me and said he had contacts of people who could buy children between the ages of one and three.
“I informed Chibuzor, Ada’s brother who stole a child and we gave it to Onwa. He took away the child but refused to pay us our money. My boyfriend, Onyewkere, then went to his village, stole his sister’s two-year-old child and we contacted Onwa, but this time we followed him down to Enugu State where the child was sold to an old woman driving a Toyota Camry and she paid us the sum of N250,000.“Onwa warned us to only steal children on the road because if we were caught we would be burnt. He advised that we should move regularly to new areas, rent an apartment and after stealing a child we should leave the area and move to another place.“So, we went to the Akuke area of Enugu where we rented an apartment and we succeeded in stealing two children who were between the ages of two and four years from Mr. Onyeka. I became friendly with his wife. I visited them regularly, so, I became familiar with their children, Ada and Chinonso. I studied their area for three months and when I discovered that the coast was clear, I made away with the children and sold them to Onwa, for 450,000 each.
“We relocated to Abuja and rented an apartment at the Tungamaji area. We stole a woman’s child who was our neighbor. The woman left her child under my care while she went to the market. We quickly packed our things and fled with the child who we sold to Chioma, who we met through Onwa, for N300,000.“We rented another apartment at the Gwagwa area of Abuja, where we stayed for two weeks and I stole a one-year-old baby who we sold to Chioma for N300,000. We then left Abuja and ran to Ipoba Hill area Benin in Edo State and rented an apartment there. We stole a child belonging to a woman who was sick and could not take proper care of the child. The child used to come to our compound to play, so I stole the child, took her to Chioma, who paid us N300,000.
“We spent most of the money on food, clothes and other frivolities. Before we were arrested, my boyfriend and I had decided to quit, but there was this woman, Blessing, who contacted us for five children between the ages of one and two. I gave her a bill of N2million and she paid instantly.“Since we had decided to quit, Emmanuel and I used the money to rent a two-bedroom flat, furnished it and we removed our sim cards from our phones so Blessing would not reach us anymore.
” I advise people not to indulge in crime as it does not pay. People should not steal other people’s kids, because the pains of missing kids are enough to kill their mothers, especially when you don’t know what really transpired. I have two children, I won’t be happy if they are stolen “.
