Kidnappers Sell Boys For N450,000, Girls N150,000

Unidentifited persons, weekend, kidnapped a
three-year-old boy, Ejike Emmanuel, at Akaeze
in Ivo Local Government Area of the state. The boy was abducted in front of his
parent's compound at Obulo-Iyioji
village in Akaeze by two suspected
kidnappers, a man and woman, who
disguised as customers to the mother of the victim,
Mrs Nnennaya Emmanuel. Narrating her ordeal, Mrs Emmanuel said: "I was
closing my akara (bean cake) business for the day
and dropped Ejike with his four-year-old sister,
Nkiruka, and crossed over to the other side of the
road to keep the bench I used for the business. "When I came back, my son was nowhere to be
found. I only saw Nkiruka crying and pointing her
finger at some people on a motorcycle." In his account, the father, Mr Anyim Emmanuel,
expressed disbelief that his child could ever be
kidnapped on such an ever busy road and called on
security agencies to help secure the release of his
son. It was, however, learnt that the parents of the victim
raised alarm which attracted some villagers who
quickly organised a search party to locate the boy's
whereabouts but all efforts proved abortive as the
kidnappers had disappeared. In a related development, two of the eight children
kidnapped between December last year and early
January at Ishiagu in the same local government
have been found. Police sources noted that the two children were
rescued in Owerri, ImoState, with the aid of
members of the Criminal Investigation Department
of Imo State Police Command, adding that they
were found in the custody of a woman who allegedly
bought them from the kidnappers for N600, 000. According to the source, the woman, whose name
could not be immediately ascertained, was said to
have paid N450,000 for the male child, while the
female child was sold to her for N150,000. Meanwhile, Ebonyi State Police Public Relations
Officers, DSP Sylvester Igbo, who confirmed both
incidents, said he was waiting for a formal report
from the Divisional Police Officers in charge of the
Ivo LGA before briefing journalists. He, however, said the Police had arrested a suspect
(names withheld) in connection with the kidnap of
little Ejike Emmanuel, stressing that the Police was
determined to rid the state of kidnappers.