By Charles Kumolu
WITH her poise and sense of dressing, Sayo Adeolu comes across as being elegant even though her looks can’t be described as charming. Her appearance can also lead one to assume that she works with one of the reputable companies in Lagos. But Adeolu is neither a graduate of any tertiary institution nor had she worked in any corporate environment. Her fashion sense was inherited from her late mum who, she told VanguardFeatures,VF, was a prosperous Alhaja at Jibowu.
File: Child abductors on rampage
Obviously, being so chic attracted her to one Mr. Joe Ebie (not real name), another classy young man who she had a baby boy for. Though not married to Ebie, both lived together in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State.
Their joy was, however, cut short recently following the sudden disappearance of their two-year-old son. The disappearance of the love-child at the premises of Adeolu’s hair dressing and beauty salon in Satellite Town, had left the 23-year-old indigene of Igbotako in Ondo State distraught.
Disappearance of love child
While narrating her story to VF, Adeolu was full of regret and self-indictment, as she explained that she could have prevented the incident from occurring. Till date, the memories of that day, which was a Friday in July, still haunt the young mother. And this was evident from the number of times she betrayed emotion while telling VF her story.
Betrayalof emotion
‘’My Typical day starts and ends in this salon, which I operate with my elder sister. I was busy attending to a customer who had come for pedicure, while my son and other children played outside. I had no inkling that danger was lurking around as the kids were outside, because it was usual for them to do that,” she stated.
‘’The children often played in any of the shops here because all of us here live in peace. My son can play in my neigbour’s shop. That was the situation until I felt it was time to feed him. Behold, when I went outside to fetch him, I did not see him or the other kids. Upon checking further, I realised that other children had gone to their respective shops.
‘’I did not suspect anything at that time because I thought he may have followed my immediate neighbour, who is a carpenter. I waited for a while for my neighbour to return only to discover that Dolapo did not go out with him. It was at that point that it struck me that my son may have gone missing. I raised alarmed which prompted my neighbours to mobilise for a search.”
Body language of two ladies: ‘’As the search went on, minutes turned to hours, while the day eventually ended with my son still missing. We reported the incident to the police division in our area. That day was the longest in my life because sleep was the least I could think of.” Asked if she suspected anyone, her response was an emphatic no. However, she explained that the body language of the two ladies who visited her on the day of the incident was suspicious.
She said that one of the girls claimed to be a relative of her boy friend. “The indifference of the girls made me to report them as suspects. Our search continued to be fruitless as the main suspect denied knowing the whereabouts of my son,” Adeolu stated, adding: ‘’After a while we could no longer reach her on phone. It was at this point that a manhunt was declared for her. After a few weeks, she was apprehended in Navy Town where she had gone to visit her boy friend.
On being questioned, she confessed to the crime. She confessed that she took the child to her mother who resides at Oko Afo area close to Badagry.” The good news is that Adeola has since been reunited with her son, while the suspect was handed over to men of Agboju Police Station for investigation and prosecution.
Other cases of child theft: The incident is one out of many as the Nigerian media is awash with stories relating to incidents of child theft across the country. From Sokoto to Calabar, Enugu to Bauchi, are daily reports of stolen children, with the situation said to have attained an alarming level.
Alarminglevel
From January 2015 till date, VF findings reveal that no fewer than 20 cases of child theft had been reported. Early this month, the Police in Enugu recovered two babies that were stolen by a 25-year-old woman in Gboko, Benue State. The lady, who is a known personality in Adekaa area in Gboko, was arrested while trying to sell her sibling’s two-year-old son in Enugu after she earlier sold her one-month-old baby.
In the last week of July, a 20-month-old child, Opeyemi Ogundele, was reported stolen during a naming ceremony in Abeokuta. The incident happened at Mile 2, Iyana Concord, Akorede Estate, Ilugun Inukosegba Community in Abeokuta North Local Government Area of the state. Elizabeth Ogundele, 26, mother of the toddler, who narrated her ordeal, said she was getting ready for her niece’s naming ceremony when she discovered her son was missing. She said that she had gone to celebrate with her brother, Olusola Osunleke, when the incident happened.
“I was helping my brother’s wife get ready for the ceremony when I noticed that my son was missing,” she noted.
Two-month old baby girl sold for N625,000
Similarly, the Police had in Ogidi, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, arrested four women for alleged involvement in stealing, selling and buying a two-month-old baby girl for N625,000. The Police said the baby was stolen from her mother at Nnewi by three of the suspects who sold her to one of the suspects.
The suspected seller, who was said to be an Enugu-based woman (names withheld), had stolen the baby from her mother and sold her to the buyer who claimed to be in desperate need of a baby girl because she needed a female child.
Arrest ofa nurse
On August 7, 2015 the rural village of Arogun in Ogun State nearly lost its peace following the arrest of a nurse for alleged child theft. The nurse, who owns a private hospital in Arogun, allegedly took the baby away after delivery before the mother could recover from the pangs of childbirth and told the mother that she had a stillbirth.
Churches, schools and other public places: The incident happened on June 13, 2015, but policemen from the Ewekoro Division arrested the suspect a few weeks later. The state Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, who confirmed the arrest, said the people in the community became suspicious when they suddenly saw her with a baby.
The mother of the baby got information that her baby did not die, but was with the nurse. Similar cases exist, suggesting that child theft is becoming a daily occurrence. Investigations showed that it usually happens in churches, schools and other public places. The modus operandi of the abductors, VF learnt, entails luring the victims away, while claiming to have been sent to fetch them.
Method of operation: As a result of this rising menace, there is an atmosphere of fear among parents in the country, especially against the backdrop of the belief that no one is immune against the act. A private school proprietor in Oriade Local Council Development Area, Mr. John Afuberoh, who does not want the name of his school in print, regretted that the phenomenon is trending, adding that private schools are the worst hit.
‘’On daily basis children are being stolen from schools and other public places. This should be a matter of concern for everyone; it should not be seen a sideline problem. This is a national challenge. It affected the rate of attendance during our summer school because parents are scared. We recorded an all time low attendance and who knows if some parents would decide to withdraw their children when school resumes,’’ he told VF.
Seriouschallenge
His frustration was also re-echoed by another proprietor in same area, Mr. Romanus Elozonachi, who, without mincing words, lamented that child theft poses a serious challenge to them.
Private school operators lament: ‘’As we look forward to resumption in September, our greatest challenge is how to protect children against child thieves because they are everywhere. Parents had expressed concern at the last PTA meeting we had during the break. Much as we are coming up with extra measures on how to face the situation, I will admit that we have become helpless,’’ he stated.
With this disturbing rise, many are forced to question what could have led to the increase despite the fact some suspects are often apprehended by law enforcement agents. Investigation by VF in that respect showed that the act is often motivated by pecuniary interest and ritual purposes. For instance, out of every five cases of child theft, three are always connected to ritual purposes, while two could be for other reasons.
A testimony to that could be found in the recent confession of a woman identified as Chioma Anoruo who was arrested by the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, in Owerri after she confessed to selling about 19 children to ritualists.
19 babies sold to ritualists
Anoruo was arrested a few weeks ago by the Orlu community local vigilante group while the husband, Emeka, escaped. She was forced to open their doors where the victims were found inside a room in captivity. About five children, including a new-born baby, already kidnapped for sale, were rescued from her house, while a Sports Utility Vehicle, SUV, belonging to Emeka, was recovered along with an undisclosed sum of money.
She also confessed that they had sold more than 19 children and the remaining five were waiting to be sold to their customers. Anoruo confessed that her job specification was to keep the victims while her husband would contact buyers and sell them, adding that human merchandise had been their family business for years.
The vigilance group, however, handed over the suspect and the rescued victims to the Police for further investigation. The suspect may have been charged to court, but there are worries that the punishment for such such crime is not punitive enough in Nigeria—a situation that was seen as one of the reasons why the menace is on the rise.
Serial child abductors: ‘’Without indicting the law enforcement agents who had often apprehended the suspects, it is also safe to say that our laws are not harsh enough against these heartless elements. That is why some of them have become serial child abductors.
Serial childabductors
It is shocking to know that they get slaps on the wrist instead of hard knocks,’’ Founder, Save the Lost Foundation, STLF, Mrs. Adenike Adeyemo said. She, however, came down hard on law enforcement agents, saying: ‘’Do you know that the security officers instead of charging some of such cases to court, release the suspects on bail. Tell me, is that supposed to be a bailable offence? It is a serious crime and they know it because the right of the child is being infringed upon.’’
Her allegation was however disputed by the Force Public Relations Officer, PRO, Mr. Emma Ojukwu, who told VF thus: “That is not true. Any established case of kidnapping or child theft is often charged to court by the Police in every part of the country. It is wrong to blame the police for the rise or to accuse the force of not charging suspects to court.”
Challenges of prosecuting suspects
Ojukwu, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP, further said: ‘’People should stop blaming the police. The criminal justice system in the country should be the major focus here because sometimes when they are charged to court lawyers come up with interpretations after which the suspects may be granted bail.’’
Disclosing the challenges encountered when prosecuting such cases, he said: ‘’In prosecuting such cases, sometimes witnesses don’t turn up. That frustrates the process of prosecution. Even in some states, some courts stay up to three months without sitting, thereby making prosecution of cases difficult.
‘’Of course it is a bailable offence. The Police don’t make the laws of this country, we only enforce. Therefore, I can’t say whether the penalty for the crime is punitive enough or not. If Nigerians want stiffer penalties for child abductors, they should bring it to the attention of the National Assembly.
Prevalence of the crime
The prevalence of the crime has nothing to do with the Police; something is wrong with the value to life in this country.’’ Indeed, checks showed that the Police had successfully prosecuted some suspects across the country. For instance an Osogbo Chief Magistrate Court had in 2014 sentenced a 38-year-old housewife, Khadijat Ajisefini, to five years imprisonment for stealing a 21-day-old baby.
The Chief Magistrate, Adebayo Lasisi, who did not give the convict an option of fine, said that the prosecution proved the case against her beyond reasonable doubt. Before then, an Abuja Chief Magistrates’ Court had sentenced a 20-year-old woman, Juli Markus, to five years imprisonment for stealing a four-month-old baby in a church.
The Chief Magistrate, Hajiya Fati Tafida, said that the convict was guilty as charged and handed her the sentence without an option of fine. Since these and other convictions had done little or nothing to curb the prevalence of child theft, many want stiffer penalties for the crime, even as some stated that fighting the menace should not be left to the Police alone.
Speaking in that light, a Human Rights activist and legal practitioner, Mr. Best Warikoru, noted: ‘’ The matter is a criminal case that is handled by the magistrates, when brought to court. Every state has its criminal code, which prescribed the penalties to be meted out. However, it is important to state without fear that not all the reported cases are charged to court. That is why we record few convictions.
‘’The attitude of blaming the Police for the prevalence in Nigeria, should stop. People should desist from that because the abductors live in the communities and are sometimes known for their nefarious activities. To make the country safe for the Nigerian child as enshrined in the Constitution, people should assist the police by giving intelligence information.”
No comments:
Post a Comment