Monarch faults reported kidnap of 64 kids
From Sunny Ogefere, Asaba
BARELY four days after the police rescued 64 kids suspected to be victims of child trafficking in Asaba, Delta State, the traditional ruler of Omor in Anambra State, Igwe P.N Udemezue had faulted the claim, insisting that the children were not kidnapped as alleged.
However, the Delta State Police Command has said it would continue to keep the kids in custody, pending the conclusion of investigations into the issue.
The police had intercepted the children who were being conveyed in a Mercedes Benz mini bus along the Onitsha-Benin Expressway and arrested four persons who were suspected to be behind crime.
The driver of the bus and another man who said he was the custodian of the children, claimed that they were conveying them from Omor village in Ayamahum Local Council of Anambra State to spend holidays with their parents at Ugboha town in Esan Central Local Council of Edo State.
Following their detention, Udemezue wrote to the Delta State Police Command corroborating the statement made by the suspects.
According to the royal father, the children were joining their parents and guardians in their farms, and that at the end of their holidays, they (parents and guardians) would give them money for school fees and other valuables.
But the state Police Commissioner, Mr. Charles Akaya, who read the royal father's letter to reporters, said that the command was not satisfied with the letter and the preliminary investigations made.
He said that investigations were continuing to ascertain the truth of what actually happened, particularly why 64 children would be loaded into a bus on an inter state journey.
Akaya said that the children would not be released for now except if their safety can be guaranteed.
The driver of the bus, Mr. Christopher Onwuasaezeanya told journalists that he charged the parents N17,000 to convey their children from Omar to Ugboha.
He stated that he undertook similar journey annually whenever the children were on holidays, adding that he also took some of them to Issele - Uku and Issele - Azagba in Aniocha North Council of Delta State.
