Instead of celebrating Easter, the Ogwashi Uku community, Aniocha South local government council area, Delta state, since Friday, has been lamenting the abduction of four children in a mysterious circumstance.
Parents of the children and neighbours who are in disbelief have expressed shock over the sudden disappearance of the children at Umuokwe quarters.
The children are a six-year-old girl, Ebube Nwafido, and her sister, Miracle, aged 3, both of the same parent; and two other girls, Chimanda, 7, and Excel alias Tinubu, 5, also of another parent.
Father of Ebube and Miracle, Kingsley Nwafido and his wife are distressed and calling for help in retrieving their children.
Reports from the area said residents of Umuokwe quarters, where the crime was committed, are pointing accusing fingers at three women who secured emergency accommodation last Monday in the neighbourhood as suspects.
The women allegedly lured the children on Friday, pretending to buy them biscuits from a popular supermarket in the community.
The ladies had approached Mrs Bose Nwafido to ask whether she could direct them to secure a one-room accommodation.
“It was last Monday, and the three women came asking me for a house to rent. I pointed in a direction, but a moment later, one of them came back and said she had drunk Pepsi and Zobo, that she had a runny stomach, and that I should allow her to use our toilet.
“I took the lady to the back of our house where she defecated in a bush, and thereafter she told me she was going to withdraw money from the POS to pay for the accommodation.
“The lady later returned when I left for the market and carried my first son, 10-year-old Ifechukwude, to their house. That is how they started showing kindness to children around them, unknown to many. They had an evil plan.
She said she left the children on Friday morning for a program instructing them to play within the compound as usual.
“At about noon, some children returned to say that Aunty wanted to buy biscuits for us. That’s how my children went to their house when I wasn’t around, “ she narrated.
It was further gathered that neighbours expressed concern when the children and the other two could not be seen around the compound after some time. By the time they visited the ladies’ apartment, neither the occupants nor the children could be found, as the room was empty.
The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Bright Edafe, confirmed the story, adding that an investigation is underway to arrest the suspects and return the children unharmed.
