Shockwaves are reverberating across Yorùbáland and the global Yorùbá diaspora following the sudden death of the Baba Ọba (King’s Father) of the famed Oyotunji African Village in South Carolina, USA. The late Baba Ọba, Lukman Arohunfale, a revered socialite and traditionalist, passed away under circumstances already sparking fierce controversy. His death comes just days after he publicly accused the newly installed Alaafin of Oyo, His Imperial Majesty Oba Akeem Adéyẹmọ Owoade, of allegedly ordering his courtiers to beat him mercilessly during a recent courtesy visit to the Oyo palace in Nigeria. In a widely circulated voice recording, the deceased recounted how what was meant to be a simple homage turned violent. Although the Baba Ọba had reportedly battled ill health in the past year, growing insinuations suggest that the alleged physical assault may have aggravated his condition, ultimately leading to his untimely death. The palace in Oyo recently denied that s...
According to Nwaomucha, a number of children had been going missing in the community over time but on September 24, his niece, Glory Oyibo, was snatched right from the family compound in Ndemili, throwing the family into a panic over what might have happened to the little girl.
He said for over two weeks, the family made several efforts to locate the child. They got a break on November 13, when news filtered in that two kidnappers had been caught in Issele-Uku, a suburb of Asaba, with two children in their vehicles.
When the suspects – Emmanuel Udagwu, a resident of Agbor Alidinma and Celestina Enebeli from Ulogwe Isumpe – were arrested by the police, they confessed to have been involved in some previous kidnapping of children from Ndemili and surrounding communities.
Nwaomucha told Punch that the communities the suspects come from share boundaries with Ndemili. They confessed kidnapping about nine children so far in the entire localities.
“When they kidnapped children they transported their victims to Asaba, where a 70-year-old-woman received the victims for onward ferry to other places for sale,” he said.
The septuagenarian, who has since been arrested has reportedly made statements about the clients he sold the children to.
“The old woman confessed that she had sold my little niece along with another boy for N500,000 to some people in the East. She sold them through another man in Asaba. The man outsmarted us during arrest, abandoning his taxi colour car,” he said.
The police said efforts are still ongoing to recover Glory and other stolen victims from wherever the gang sold them to.
“I want to thank all those who have been standing by my family through prayers, which have paid off. We are still praying for Glory to be alive in captivity so that she can be found in good health and reunited with her parents and other siblings, who have not stopped crying day and night since she was kidnapped,” Nwaomucha said.
Police said they are working to ensure all members of the gang were rounded up while the identities of missing children would be determined to effect their recovery from where they are sold to.
Comments
Post a Comment