The family of one-year-old Chisom Adumike has been thrown into confusion after her aunt, Chinaza Okoh, allegedly kidnapped her in Amankwu Olikwu Awgu community in the Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State.
The suspect was alleged to have sold her to her boyfriend.
PUNCH Metro gathered that Chisom was coming from school on July 28 when Okoh allegedly abducted her on the school field.
The community youth leader, Sunday Nwafor, told our correspondent that while the woman had been arrested, efforts to recover the child had been abortive.
Nwafor said the case was reported at the Awgu Police Station.
He said, “On July 28, Chisom was taken by her mother to school, while she left for the farm. They had an evening lesson that day, which made the school close around 4pm. But when Chisom’s mother came back from the farm around 5pm, she started looking for her, going from house to house, but no one could tell where she was.
“We joined the search as some children told us that another child, Ego, took her from school but on their way home, she dropped her on the school field, where Chinaza Okoh picked her up.
“We searched everywhere that day, but we could not find her. The next morning, we started searching again and noticed Chinaza making suspicious calls. Meanwhile, someone had already told us that three days before that day, Chinaza her to sell one of her children so that the person would get money to train her other children, but the woman refused; that made us invite the police to arrest her.
“When she was arrested, she denied at first that she knew anything about the whereabouts of the child; she later confessed that she was the one who picked her and gave her to her boyfriend from Mmaku, Micheal Chukwuobasi, and one Anioke Ikechukwu. We went in search of them with the police, but we could not find them.”
Nwafor, who told our correspondent that the matter was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, noted that the policemen in charge of the matter demanded N200,000 for mobilisation.
He said the N170,000 raised by villagers for the purpose was rejected by the cops.
“The police directed us to a firm that could track those people and we went to them; they demanded N1.2m and after much pleading, they reduced it to N600,000. But we don’t know where to get the money; we don’t know if the government can help us,” he added.
Chisom’s father, Ejimofor Adumike, said the absence of his child had put the family in disarray.
He said, “Chinaza sold my daughter to two men. I am not myself anymore; I need help to find my daughter. This child we are talking about is a twin; her second died on January 13 and now, the surviving one is missing. I want the police and the state government to help me find my daughter.”
The Enugu State Police Public Relations Officer, Daniel Ndukwe, promised to get back to our correspondent after making enquiries on the case.
He had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report. ,, (punch)
