Two children, who were kidnapped from Gombe State and taken to Anambra State, have been reunited with their parents.
The children were kidnaped while playing along with other children in their parents’ compound. The three suspects are; Patience Opia from Cross River, Ejece Obi, from Anambra State and Blessings John from Bauchi State.
Parading the suspects, the Anambra State Commissioner for Police, John Abang, through the state Police Public Relations Officer, Haruna Mohammed, said the children were kidnapped from Gombe State and were rescued in Anambra State, through intelligence network of security operatives in the state.
According to him, the children who were rescued and put in the welfare department of the police, on sighting their parents, rushed and held them.
He said before the children were released, it was confirmed that people who came to claim them were truly their biological parents.
He said the principal suspect, Blessings John, had claimed that she was the biological mother of one of the children while the other one belonged to her late sister.
Abang also said that the suspects had concluded plans to sell each of the children at the cost of N750,000 before luck ran out on them.
Speaking to Daily Trust, their father, Abdulaziz Suleman, said the children were playing in their compound when they were kidnapped.
He said they were grateful to God for enabling them to see their children again after 20 days in the hands of kidnappers. According him, they discovered their children were found in Anambra through the social media.
“One of our neighbours saw the pictures of the boys on the social media that they were rescued in Anambra State, and alerted us. When we confirmed that they were our children, we decided to come down to Anambra State to reclaim them. When the children saw us, they ran to us,” he stated.
While speaking to Daily Trust, Opia who hawks sachet water at the Onitsha main market, said Blessing came to her and told her that one of the children was her child, while the other was her late sister’s child and that they needed somebody to help in training them in school.
According to her, she told her (Blessing) that she did not know any person who can take care of the children, but promised to find someone who can assist.
She also said that after some time, she found Ejece Obi and narrated the story to her, after which she promised to be of assistance.
“I don’t know the lady apart from when she came to Onitsha and claimed that she was robbed by armed robbers. Also I didn’t know that there were price tags on the boys. I am just hearing about the N750,000 price for each of the boys. I am not aware of any intention to sell the boys,” she said.
