Tag: kidnappers

“That woman is not my mother…My daddy’s name is Effiong. He is at Air Force Base”

But for the ceaseless crying of a four-month-old baby yesterday, three children may have ended up in a kidnappers’ den.

The cry of the baby, carried by Eno, the suspected kidnapper, who was accompanied by a teenager, inside an Iddo, Lagos-bound Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) vehicle, attracted other passengers.

With the woman and the teenager, a girl, were two other children—Happiness Effiong (four) and her sister, Patience (two). They claimed that all three were Eno’s children.

Worried by the baby’s cry, other women inside the bus asked Eno to breastfeed her.

But she refused. She was also unable to pet the baby to stop crying.

Suspecting her, the passengers were said to have alerted men of Iddo Police Station, Railway Terminus, who promptly arrested her and her accomplice.

At the police station, Eno again refused all entreaties to breastfeed the baby. Instead, she brought out a feeding bottle containing an orange-colour watery substance, which the baby refused to take.

Eno, who initially told the police that she lives at Iyana-Oba, Majidun in Ikorodu, later said she stays at Igando.

Asked for her husband’s phone number, she claimed she does not know it, adding that she does not have a phone.

The teenager, who she claimed to be her sister, was asked to use her own phone to call any of their family members to confirm Eno’s statement.

The unsatisfactory response from their supposed brother, who she called, prompted the police to detain them.

Although the suspects insisted Eno is the children’s mother, Happiness denied knowing either of them.

Happiness said she lives at the Air Force Base, Ikeja and gave her father’s name as Effiong. She said they were taken from their home by the woman.

“That woman is not my mother. My name is Happiness. This is my sister Patience. My daddy’s name is Effiong. He is at the Air Force Base.

“My mother and daddy are in the house. I do not know her (Eno); she is not my mother. And I do not know her,” she said while responding to questions.

Eno again changed her story, saying the children’s father is one Effiong who works as a cleaner at the Air Force Base.

She claimed Happiness rejected her because she was arrested by the Task Force on Environment few months after she gave birth to her, adding that the girl doesn’t really know her.

“They are my children, I am their mother. If you think I am lying, let us go to the Air Force Base and meet their father.

“I was arrested by former Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola when she (Happiness) was like this baby I am carrying now. Their father signed the paper for Fashola to take me away.

“It was while I was with Fashola that I gave birth to this one (Patience) and this one I’m carrying now is four months old. I have five children, two with another man and these three with Effiong,” she claimed.

A team of policemen yesterday foiled an attempt by a gang of kidnappers to abduct the Chairman of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, Mr. Remember Ogbeh.

But two of the policemen, identified by their ranks as corporal, were killed by the rampaging gunmen.

The operatives, attached to the chairman, were said to have spotted the gunmen around the residence of the council boss in Amasomma, Southern Ijaw,, at about 8pm on Thursday.

The gunmen were said to have opened fire on the security team after sighting them.

A source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The bandits had sophisticated guns. They were shooting indiscriminately, especially after their sporadic gunshots were replied by the police. They kept shooting at the building.

“But the policemen withstood them. They showed some gallantry. However, two of the policemen were not lucky enough. They were hit by bullets and they died. The gunmen escaped without fulfilling their sinister mission of abducting the chairman.”

The gunmen were said to have escaped into the creeks with the riffles of the slain policemen.

The incident, it was gathered, threw the area into confusion and sent people scampering to safety.

It was, however, gathered that a special squad of the police carried out preliminary investigations on the fleeing gunmen and later arrested an alleged mastermind of the incident, identified as 24-year-old Seigha Oduwaiye.

Oduwaiye, who hails from Akassa in Brass Local Government Area, was said to have made useful statements to the police.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Butswat Asinim, said the men of the anti-kidnapping unit of the police have intensified efforts to arrest Oduwaiye’s fleeing gang members.

He said: “On the 30 July, 2015, at about 8pm four dare-devil gunmen stormed the residence of the  of Southern Ijaw LGA, Hon Remember Ogbe, at Amassoma in Southern Ijaw LGA to abduct him, but were engaged in a gun battle with the policemen attached to the chairman.

“The unknown gunmen retreated, but the two police orcporals lost their lives due to injuries sustained in the encounter. The corpses of the deceased policemen were deposited at the Federal Medical Centre, Mortuary, Yenagoa, for autopsy.”

In a related development, a gang of kidnappers was said to have attacked the residence of one Mrs. Tonye Aroh in Opume community in Ogbia, and abducted her.

The 80-year-old Aroh was said to have been kidnapped at about 8pm, same time the other gang of gunmen killed the policemen.

The bandits were said to have unsettled the community with sporadic shooting before whisking the octogenarian away in a speedboat.

Confirming the incident, the Chairman of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Ogbia Clan, Mr. Osanya B. Osanya, condemned the abduction and urged the kidnappers to release the old woman without delay.

“The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Ogbia clan will partner with the security agencies to make sure the woman is released safely. We advise the youths in the clan to conduct themselves properly and engage in legal activities,” he said.