Five children have been abducted by a woman who allegedly disguised as a teacher in Rukpakulus, Eliozu, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The children, aged between 18 months and four years, were reportedly from two families.
The mother of three of the victims, Rose Monday, said her children were abducted when they went over to their neighbour’s house to play.
Monday said the woman disguised as a lesson teacher seeking to rent a makeshift structure in the area.
The devastated mother said her children were last seen after the woman took them to buy notebooks.
She said, “I was at home when one of my children, who was playing with her siblings, came back alone. I asked her the whereabouts of her brothers and she said one aunty (woman) said she would bring them home.
“I asked where the woman took them to, but she replied that the woman took her to the Oil Mill Market to start taking them lessons and that she and the other children followed her.”
Monday’s 14-year old daughter, who was initially abducted by the mystery woman, said the suspect released her and their neighbour’s son at the market, but went away with five other children.
“I told the aunty that the small one (child) did not know how to write and the woman could go and buy the books.
“The woman said no, that she liked little children. As I followed her, she started watching me. When I returned the look, she smiled.
“She now stopped a vehicle and all of us entered. When we got to Oil Mill, the woman kept me there and sat down.
“The woman now told me that she wanted to take the children to go and pick up something. So, I sat there for a long time.
“I then asked a girl operating PoS if she knew where the woman took the children to, and the girl replied that she didn’t know the woman,” she added.
The mother of the other two children, Blessing Emmanuel, recalled that the suspect had hired her husband to buy materials to construct the makeshift structure.
She said, “The woman told the children that she used to organise lessons (home classes) and that if she found a way she would begin lessons for them. So, the grown-up child said, ‘Aunty, let’s go and buy books.’
“Since I know the girl and her brothers, who usually come to my house to play with my children because she is a former neighbour, my children followed them.”
Mrs Emmanuel said she thought the woman would buy the books at a nearby shop, adding that one of the grown-ups pointed a shop to the woman, but she ignored her.
“The woman told her that she would buy the books further down the road. But as they kept going, the girl asked where she was taking them to. She said the woman gave her a stern look and from then, she couldn’t ask her any further question till they entered a vehicle,” she added.
The acting spokesperson for the state police command, Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed the incident, describing the victims’ parents as careless.
She said, “Those people (parents) were they not careless? Somebody came to them that she was a teacher, went to their house and told them she wanted to take the children and buy books for them.
“They allowed her to take the children. Is it supposed to be like that? So, you can see that it is the carelessness of parents and they will now fall back on the police.
“We have commenced investigation to ensure that the children are rescued, as well as arrest the woman and make her face the law.”
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