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| Photo 2 of the stolen babies |
investigative journalist helped the police to bring an end to their evil act.
Daily Sun gathered that the gang had turned Onitsha and its environs into a safe haven, until their reign was brought to an end by the combined efforts of the journalist and the police. Even now, two families are at each other’s throat over two unclaimed children who were allegedly stolen from their parents in Onitsha.
Little Chimaobi Adina Okoro who was stolen by the suspected leader of the syndicate, identified as Ngozi, from 70, Akunnia Njote Street, Woliwo, Onitsha on February 5, was one of the victims of the syndicate alleged to have stolen many babies and sold them out to different wealthy individuals across the country.
According to the journalist, who is the publisher of a local magazine, The 3rd Eye, Mr. Nweke Nweke, the arrest of the suspects in connection with the disappearance of the 11 babies was made possible through a complaint brought by one of the women whose baby was stolen.
Mr. Nweke said: “One Mrs. Monday Ogba who resides at Central School Road, Obosi in Idemili North Local Government area of Anambra State brought a story to my office to publish about her baby girl, Uchechi Ogba who was eight months old at the time of her theft. One lady had pretended to be the woman’s aunt and then stole her baby. When I began investigation, the little housemaid described the lady that pretended to be the victim’s aunt and with my connection, the lady was sighted at Lokpa Nta in Umunnochi Local Government area of Imo State.”
The publisher said further that when he went to the village and pretended to be a customer to the suspect, Ngozi, he invited a policeman from Akparata police station who assisted him in arresting the suspect. Ngozi is currently in prison in connection with child stealing and child trafficking, He continued: “When Ngozi was arrested, I then came back to Anambra but before then, the mother of Uchechi had reported the matter to Obosi police station and when we came back, the matter was also reported at Awada police station. Then a Deputy Superintendent of Police, (DSP) volunteered her Mercedes Benz and it was used to bring Ngozi back from Imo State to Awada where the crime was committed.”
Daily Sun learnt that during interrogation, the prime suspect, Ngozi confessed to have stolen the 11 children from different parts of Anambra State with Awada and Obosi suffering the highest casualties. She said the babies were then sold to different people across the country.
During interrogation, Ngozi allegedly confessed that she had been in the business for a very long time, adding that she has collaboration with one auxiliary nurse in Okigwe, Imo State who she said kept the babies pending the time of their sale. That suspect was also arrested.
Meanwhile, the police went into deeper investigations, which led to the arrest of another accomplice (names withheld) who is the proprietress of a motherless babies home in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government area of Imo State. She was said to have taken to her heels on sighting the policemen, but she was later arrested.
It was further gathered that members of the syndicate later shifted their trade to Onitsha where they had a field day before their arrest. But out of the 11 children stolen, the police, working in collaboration with the journalist, had recovered nine from different locations. Two children were recovered in Okigwe, Imo State, one in Warri, Delta State, one in Abuja, one in Gombe, one in Olokoro, Umuahia, Abia State, one in Isiala Ngwa, Abia State, one in Lokpa Nta, Imo State and one in Enugu, Enugu State.
Out of the recovered nine children, eight have been reunited with their parents. One is still in contention between two women while the whereabouts of one of them is still unknown at the time of this report.
Meanwhile, the Imo State police command is currently battling to unravel the circumstances surrounding the claims by two women over one of the recovered children that was stolen in Onitsha and sighted in Imo State.
The prime suspect, Ngozi had, during interrogation, allegedly told the investigators at Awada police station that the contentious baby was used to placate one woman in Akwa Ibom State following the death of the latter’s boy.
She said: “The boy was used as a replacement for the Akwa Ibom girl who delivered a baby boy in my home and left him under my care, but along the line, the baby died. I found it hard to tell her that her baby boy died because of the angry soldier they came with, so I then gave them Emma as a replacement for the dead baby.”
Meanwhile, the other woman had insisted that she was the mother of the living baby. Said she: “My baby boy was not the one that died. How can my boy die? If she is sure of what she is saying, let her bring up the medical records of the baby before he died.”
The parents of the stolen child, through their counsel, Mr. Ignatius Umennabude had petitioned the Commissioner of Police, Imo State command on the ground that the police have refused to retrieve the stolen child and hand him over to his parents after they have provided everything to identify the baby.
The police had insisted that the only thing that would prove the true parentage of the baby is a DNA test. But the counsel to the family, Mr. Umennabude said the family could not afford the money for such.
However, the police said they were still on the trail of other members of the syndicate, adding that four suspects have been arrested and arraigned before the court. They however advised parents to always be careful about the whereabouts of their children, observing that the syndicate is still on the prowl.
-Sunnewsonline
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