Parents of missing children cry out:‘We’re having sleepless nights’
Early this month, the Rivers State Ministry of Health shut down the state-owned Churchill Primary Health Centre, located in the Town area of Port Harcourt, over the disappearance of a three-week old baby. The baby was brought to the hospital by her mother for immunisation.
Sources close to the hospital disclosed that soon after the child was immunised, the mother handed it over to a lady, who absconded. The incident nearly caused a breakdown of law and order in the area as the child’s father mobilised youths who threatened to raze down the hospital but for the timely intervention of the police.
The permanent secretary in the state Primary Health Care Department, Dr Agiriye Harry, said the health centre was shut down because of the activities of hoodlums who claimed to be sympathizers of the family of the missing baby.
“What we can tell you is that a baby was missing; and from our investigation, we discovered that the said mother of the child was careless. It was wrong for her to have handed over her child to someone she did not know, only to put the blame on the matron,’’ she stated.
Some staff members of the hospital were arrested and interrogated by the police after the incident but later released, even as the whereabouts of the child was still unknown.
In 2016, the police in Delta State rescued a seven-year-old boy, Moses Iloba, who was abducted on August 5 at Okpanam community, Oshimili North Local Government Area of the state. The boy was reportedly sold into slavery in Port Harcourt. He was rescued seven months after the police arrested a prime suspect in the crime. The Commissioner of Police, Delta State command, Ibrahim Zanna, explained how the arrest of one Abigail Nwakama led to the rescue of the boy in Port Harcourt.
If the family of Iloba were lucky to get back their son alive, the hope of Isaac Okorite, whose son, Soibifaa Isaac, was abducted by a yet-to-be-identified lady in Port Harcourt, is bleak.
Soibifaa, 3, was abducted by a strange lady at the popular Akokwa Street of Port Harcourt. Trouble started for the little boy in the early hours of April 27, 2015 when his elder sister took him to school. On getting close to the school, Soibifaa and his elder sister were accosted by a strange lady who told the young girl to assist her buy kerosene.
Narrating how the incident happened, Soibifaa’s father said, “My wife sells kerosene, so it appears that the lady had information. She asked my daughter how much 10 liters of kerosene cost. The little girl said she did not know the price of kerosene. At that point, the lady asked her to go and find out the price from her mother, but my daughter refused and insisted that she wanted to take my son to the school.
“The lady volunteered to assist my daughter in taking the boy to school if she could find out the price of kerosene. After putting much pressure and an offer of N50, the little girl yielded and left the boy in the custody of this criminal and went to find out the price of kerosene. That was how she absconded with my son.
“This incident has given us sleepless nights. My family has not been the same for one year. We have reported the matter to the police, but nothing seems to have happened. All they have been telling us is that they are on top of the situation.’’
One year after the incident, the whereabouts of the boy is not yet known.
Also speaking, Soibifaa’s mother, Mrs. Boma Isaac said, “I am heartbroken that my son could not be found, one year after he was abducted by a strange woman. We have tried our best. We have searched all the nooks and crannies of Port Harcourt without success. We want the government and security agencies to assist us in tracing the whereabouts of this innocent boy and bring him back to us,’’ she stated.
Again, the story of a 10-monthold Daniel Malafakumo, who was abducted during a church service in the Town area of Port Harcourt, was very pathetic. The little Daniel, according to his father, Captain Saturday Malafakumo, was stolen by an unknown lady.
“On March 24, we had a programme in our church, God is Real Solution Bible Church. We left house around 4.pm to attend the programme so as to come back on time. My wife, who is an usher in the church, was carrying the baby on her back during the service. At a point, the baby became uncomfortable because of heat and my wife handed him over to my younger son, who took him outside the church premises to get some air. He was accosted by a lady who asked him where she could buy water. After some time the lady said she was hungry and needed to buy fried yam.
“They accompanied the lady in a chartered vehicle to a place she could buy yam. When they got there, she did not buy the yam but remained in the vehicle. My son became worried and insisted that he wanted to go back to church. The lady held my little boy in the vehicle. As soon as my son came down from the vehicle, the driver zoomed off with the lady and my 10-month-old boy,’’ Captain Malafakumo narrated.
The disappearance of Daniel caused a big stir in the church as the pastor and other members constituted themselves into a search team. They combed the entire Town area in search of Daniel without success. The matter was immediately reported to the police at Borokiri, but two months after, the boy has not been found.
Captain Malafakumo and his family have handed over the matter to God, waiting for divine intervention.
“We reported the incident to the police, but nothing has happened since then. They told us that they were working hard to rescue the little boy, but I don’t know how long it would take them to do that. We cannot sit down and continue to wait for the police. We are still searching for the boy on our own. As Christians we cannot do anything against our faith. We are relying on God, and we believe that prayers from men of God would do miracle for us one day,’’ he stated.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Rivers State command, DSP Nnamdi Omoni, said he had no information about the abduction of Soibifaa and Daniel.
“I am not aware of the abduction of Soibifaa Isaac, which happened one year ago. The incident happened when I had not even assumed office as the command’s public relations officer. I am yet to be briefed on the incident involving the 10-month-old Daniel,’’ he said.
When asked to give an update on the number of children who are missing in the state, he referred our correspondent to the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID). At the state CID, our correspondent was directed to the office of the command’s Public Relations Unit to get all the information needed on child theft and missing children in the state.
All efforts to speak with the Rivers State Commissioner for Social Welfare on the matter proved abortive as he was not in the office when our reporter visited twice.