From Stanley Uzoaru,Owerri
Amako community in Njaba Local Government Area of Imo State was thrown into mourning as gunmen kidnap 4 children from two parentage.
A source from the community said the children belonged to two biological sisters.
One of the mother of the victims,one Mrs Chinasa harboured two of his sister’s children who were kidnapped alongside her own children.
According to the source, the incident which occured on Saturday, May, 27 2023, has got the entire community worried.
Narrating the incident, the source said that the four kidnapped children whose ages ranged between 4 to 9 years, were said to be playing at their house alongside other children when a female neigbour lured them to a barbing salon and never came back with them again.
“The mother of the kids went to the market leaving her four children at home to play with their fellow children. Two of the four kidnapped children actually belong to one Mrs. Chinasa while the other two are her elder sister’s children living in the same house.
“But when the new neighbour came out and told the children to follow her to a barbing salon to cut their hair, the kids were happy to do that. She took them away and never came back.
“It was the mother who reported the issue to the police after she had searched around for the children without success.
“The victims’ mother, Chinasa said that the new neighbour was only two days old in the compound and was not that close to her. Although, she plays and admires her children but they had not exchanged phone numbers as to know where to find her.
“She gave the children’s names as Joy, Charles, Jemine and Pere Ebi.
“Six days after, the kids are nowhere to be found and the woman has also been at large. Both the police and other security agents have tried, in vain to locate the whereabout of the bandits.”
An indigene of Amako community who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the local vigilante group which earlier waded into the matter before calling the attention of the police, had apprehended the house agent who brought the woman as well as the landlord but each of them have claimed innocent of the incident.
“For whatever reason those little children were kidnapped has remained a mystery. This is six days after, yet they have not been found including the lady who took them out for barbing.
“The eleven communities in Njaba including Ugbelle-Akah Autonomous community are in great fear of the unknown as several efforts has been made by the Akah-Ebiri Security Network comprising of ten autonomous communities, to no avail.”
When contacted, the Imo Police Spokesman, Henry Okoye, confirmed the incident, adding that the command is on top of the matter.