Mrs. Wandoo Henikyaa is a daycare mother of three children living on Benue Crescent in Wadata area of Makurdi, the state capital. Her story of how her third child, Saaondo Philip, a four year-old pupil of Fountain Model Academy Nursery School, Makurdi was stolen has traumatized her to no end.
Crying profusely and with a terribly shaking voice, she managed to narrate how the ugly incident happened. Mrs. Henikyaa stated that she had gone out of the house for an engagement and only returned home to meet the sad disappearance of her child. “My children told me that ‘Uncle’ came here and took Saaondo away to buy him biscuit. We don’t know that uncle and since on August 27, 2015 my child has not come back and his whereabout is unknown.”
It is evidently clear that the wave of child theft and kidnapping has been a worrisome criminal act that government and varied security agencies in the food basket state have directed pointers in order to arrest the scourge. Many communities in the state have come to witness the criminal activities of gangs, which specialise in child stealing and snatching.
The criminal group has evolved various methods of unleashing the terror. There are several cases in which members of the gang even snatch children from the backs of nursing mothers, at gun point. Sometimes they invade residences and if they found that some parents are absent, they trick their children away with promises of taking them to a store to buy them biscuit and baby toys. One more curious thing is that that most of the stolen children are usually within the age bracket of between four and seven years.
Visits to some communities in the state revealed that some parents have the careless attitude of leaving children in the house without grown-up persons to look after them. Some parents even let loose their children to play freely in the open streets without anyone guarding them. This has led to cases of missing children as such unprotected children become easy victims of members of the syndicate.
Security agencies in the state so far appear inept in the handling of the criminal activities of the syndicate, even in failing to adequately create public awareness on the crime. Not until recently when the wave of child theft took a pervasive dimension, was there an attempt made by the police to alert parents and guidians on the matter.
There are several cases of child theft in Makurdi and in many communities in the state, yet there has been no case of child recovery in all the cases, and reuniting him or her with the parents. It was gathered that some of the children are being sold, while some others are held hostage by the abductors who would demand ransom from the parents.
Child abducting gunmen struck barely a month ago, at the busy Wurukum Market, also opposite the popular Balcony Parks and Garden, as well as around the Modern Market junction, all in the state capital, and snatched children from their mothers.
Recently, pandemonium broke out in Wurukum area of Makurdi when some armed child kidnappers s drove in a vehicle and snatched a three month-old baby from her nursing mother’s back while on her way to the church.
The ugly incident happened at Amokachi Lane Junction at about 6.30am when the mother of the child alongside others were treking to attend early morning mass at the St. Peter’s Catholic Church Low-level. The mother of the child, identified as Nwakaudu Abuchi cried endlessly as the assailants took away the child, Chidinma. Witnesses said the abductors, armed with guns had arrived in a Toyota Camry salon car, stopped the vehicle on the busy Amokachi Lane before they snatched the newly born baby from the mother and quickly took off.
According to Mrs. Ngodoo Paul Amyase, 30, a dealer in foodstuff and mother of three from Konshisha local government area of the state, who lives in the Benue State University community, she was in the market with her four year-old child Terdoo when suddenly the child disappeared and has not been found till date.
“I was in the market, I sell Agbu and my husband is a driver. My missing child Terdoo is four years and was schooling at Jewel Model Academy when on August 28, 2015 we were in the market and he was playing before someone snatched her. Some colleagues in the market later said they saw him with one woman moving out of the place but did not imagine she was a kidnapper.”she stated.
Worried about the whereabout of their missing children and the inability of security agencies to recover them, a group of women, numbering about 10 staged a protest in Makurdi over the abduction of their wards and the increasing incidents of child theft. The protesters besieged the NUJ House, located on Naka Road, Makurdi, to report the matter to newsmen and also register their grievances.
A protesting mother, Mrs. Charity Otumala, 25, a dealer in foodstuff in Wadata Market, Makurdi also narrated her ordeal. She said she had travelled to her home town, when they informed her by telephone that her child was missing.
“I travelled to Oju local government on the 5th September, 2015 and on 10th September, was informed that my son, Sunday Otumala was playing in the street with some children and they later discovered he was missing till today. My husband is a driver and has suspected one Timbee Shija who is now in police custody. My child was schooling at Peace Nursery School and was in nursery 2,” Charity stated.
Disturbed by the rate of crime wave in the state, Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom initiated an amnesty programme for criminals in the state, as part of measures by his administration to eradicate criminal activities, but Ortom’s amnesty programme has not stemmed the activities of child kidnappers in the state.
Governor Ortom while addressing the protesting mothers whose children were missing, stated that the state government has evolved proactive security techniques to recover the missing children and also arrest the perpatrators of the gruesome act.
“The issue of child theft and kidnapping which has so much become rampant in the state is totally unacceptable and as a government, we must not tolerate it, but we have gotten a clue on how and where the abductors take children. We shall ensure that the missing children are recovered and those unleashing the act are definitely arrested. However, the issue of security is a collective responsibility and we want to urge parents to be vigilant, report information to security agencies in order to assist in the fight against child theft and kidnapping,” Ortom stated.
Aside all these, kidnappers had snatched away Mama Mary Orker Jev, mother of the member representing Buruku Federal Constituency. On the heels of the incident was abduction of Papa Atser Ikyausu, in Vandikya local government area. He is an aged father of an oil dealer in the state.
The police public relations officer (PPRO), ASP Austin Ezeani acknowledged that several cases of child theft have been reported to the police and revealed that several arrests have also been made. He urged members of the public to properly look after their wards and urged that they should report any suspicious cases of the dastardly act to the force for swift security attention.
At the moment, the ugly trend of child theft remains on the rise in Benue State, even as the affected parents grapple with the psychological trauma of the non-recovery of their children. Only time would tell if the state government and the security agencies would live up to their responsibility in protecting the citizens.
Leadership
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