It’s difficult explaining how a new tenant stole our four children – Mothers of missing Abia kids
Two women, Ngozi Kingsley and Ifeanyi Uduma-Ibe, whose children were allegedly abducted along with the granddaughter of a 60-year-old, Blessing Obasi, by a new tenant in Umuahia, Abia State, on December 16, 2023, talk to SUNDAY NWAKANMA about the incident
I felt insecure when new tenant arrived – 32-year-old trader
What is your occupation?
My name is Ngozi Kingsley. I am 32 years old. I am a trader; I sell crayfish. I am married to a businessman who is currently ill.
How many children do you have?
I have three children – two boys and one girl.
Can you explain how your child went missing?
I am not happy. When a person dies, people see the corpse and where the person was buried, but in my case, my daughter is not dead. I just came back from the market and saw people crying and wailing all over the place, saying that the tenant who just moved into our compound abducted some children and that they had yet to be seen. I am not happy; I am devastated. That Saturday, I went to Ndoro market in the Ikwuano local government area.
Before that date, did you or any other person notice anything strange about the new neighbor or have any premonition that such a thing would happen?
No such premonition, but I am a careful person. When I saw that a new tenant had moved into our compound, I told my sister’s children and others in the compound to always lock my kitchen as the new tenant’s apartment was close to my kitchen. I told them that we had a new tenant so things would not be the way they used to be in the past when few of us lived in the compound. I urged them to secure everywhere as nobody could be too sure of what could happen. We, the old tenants, trusted one another.
How many tenants lived in the compound?
There were seven tenants in the house.
What happened next?
I was still in the tricycle offloading my goods on the main road when I heard people crying and saying that somebody abducted some children in the area and disappeared but I had no idea that it was from our house and that it was our children that it happened to. I saw a neighbour on the road crying and asked her and others what was happening. They were all crying but I kept asking them where it happened. I was later informed that my daughter, two of my sister’s children, and one other whose mother’s corpse was still at the mortuary were missing. The mother of the fourth child abducted died from pregnancy-related complications.
What is the name of your daughter?
Chioma is the only daughter I have.
You were said to have gone home to Okon, Ohafia to inform your husband and your people. What was the reaction of your husband when you told him what happened?
I am from Okon, Ohafia. So, I went home to inform my people about what happened. My husband is from Akwa Ibom and since he became sick, he left for his village in Akwa Ibom. At my age, I can take care of our three children and as a man, he can take care of himself. Also, my sister came with her children to stay with me but two of her children were also taken by the tenant.
What did your family tell you when you reported the matter to them?
My people in Okon Ohafia assured me that the kidnapper would bring back my children. Those children had just returned from the village where they went to prepare garri and also brought some tubers of yam; the food items are still in the house. They just came back on Thursday (December 14) and the lady (new tenant) moved in. It (the new tenant’s arrival) happened as if it was planned. My people told me that the children would come back. After telling them what happened, the elders of the Okon community asked me questions and told me that the children would be seen and that my sister should return home.
What I want now is for the government to help me to find our children. The government should help us fix what is happening in Nigeria, especially in Umuahia, where this is happening. If the children were outside, it would have been a different thing, but this happened inside our compound. That means that no one is safe.
It was learnt that your landlord allegedly said the tenant was not well known to him. What is your reaction to that?
There was a former tenant who used to give the landlord a headache. The former tenant was a man. He said that he had no money because his father died but the landlord threw his belongings outside. The landlord told the tenant that he (the landlord) was not the one who rented the apartment to him (the tenant). He said the person he rented the place to had moved out. The day my landlord came to the compound, I told him that I was not the person who rented the place to the man. I told him that whenever he wanted to give accommodation to anybody, he should know the type of tenant he was bringing in very well because he (the landlord) would be held responsible if anything happened.
What did your landlord do when the incident was brought to his notice?
He collects rent from the tenants, but when this incident happened, he was relaxed and never tried to know what happened in his house. Now that he is in police custody, his family member whom we had not seen since the incident occurred, came out to say that what was important to them was for their father to be out of detention as he was not healthy and that they were not after the children taken away. Can you imagine that? I have not seen that type of thing since I was born.
Are you convinced that your daughter and the other children will return as you were told?
What my mind is telling me is that the children are not dead. They are still alive because as the information about their disappearance is circulating, they (their abductors) will be listening to know whether there is any pressure on them. They will know that we are serious about it and will remain in one place.
Nigeria now has become worse such that no one knows who is who, and if a tenant who recently moved into a compound could abduct children in the compound, it means both the old and young are not safe. The landlord who gave the woman accommodation was arrested, though he denied renting an apartment to the woman. The point of sale machine in his shop which was used to transfer the money from the agent who brought the woman says it all.
Who else was arrested over the matter?
Three agents were arrested, as well as the woman who brought her (the female tenant) the day I was washing some clothes. She called herself an agent so she was also arrested.
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Did the new tenant say anything when she came to the compound?
The mysterious woman complained that the room given to her was small but I had nothing in mind and I did not talk to them. The landlord’s key (to the apartment) was given to her. I don’t know what they want to do with people’s children. The government should come to our aid and rescue our children. Our day has turned into night. Let the government locate the kids and bring them back.
God knows all. Before I had Chioma, my pastor even sowed seed on her, saying that she was destined for ‘open doors’. Since she was born, things changed in the family, closed doors opened and things were moving smoothly. That is why I don’t joke with her.
I want my missing children returned alive – Abia mother of five
How many children do you have?
My name is Ifeanyi Uduma-Ibe. I am 33 years old. I have five children; I have four girls and a boy who is in the village of Okon Ohafia.
What is your occupation?
I am a farmer. My husband is a farmer. I came to my sister’s home in Umuahia a few months ago so that she could assist me with a fish business so that I could go back to the market to sell.
How many of your children are missing?
Two.
How have you been coping since their disappearance?
I feel pained by their disappearance. I can’t sleep. I have been praying for their safe return. The way the woman (new tenant) took away the children is the same way she should bring them back to me.
Did you have any suspicion about the tenant since you arrived at your sister’s home?
No, I had no feeling that the woman would do such a thing. They were good when they moved into the compound. Any time my children were reciting the English alphabet, the new tenant would call my daughter and say, “Joy, I have seen the ABC you are reciting, I love it.” Each time my daughter sang a Christian song, she (the new tenant) would ask whether Joy was the one singing.
How old are your missing children?
Two of my missing children, Ogbonne Uduma-Ibe and Joy Uduma-Ibe are six years old and three years old, respectively. I am appealing to the people who took my children away to return them to the compound. Let them bring back the children alive.
Mother of my missing granddaughter still in mortuary – 60-year-old widow
How did you receive the news of the incident?
My name is Blessing Obasi. I am 60 years old. I am a trader and have been a widow since 2016. I have five children – three boys and two girls. The two girls are now dead. One of them is in the mortuary and she was the mother of the kidnapped girl, Miracle Ikechukwu.
I came back from the market around 6 pm, and I was still outside when Miracle’s elder brother told me that the new tenant had gone away with Miracle and that since they took her away, the tenant had yet to bring her back. As soon as I heard that, I threw my bag away and started shouting and asking where they (the tenant) took her to. The people in the compound informed me that Miracle was not the only child taken and that the new tenant also took the children of our neighbours.
How many of the children were taken away?
Four children were taken away.
What did you do next?
I started crying, shouting and after shouting, I called our landlord on the phone and he said he would call me back. He later called and said the (phone) number of the tenant was not going through. I asked him what was to be done and he hung up on me. We were all crying and searching everywhere for the children.
Did you report the case to the police?
People gathered and advised us to go to the police and make an entry. We went to the police and we were there till about 2 am on Sunday, while the police were also calling the landlord. At one point, he (the landlord) stopped picking up their calls. They (the police) asked us whether we had called the landlord and we said yes. Later, we went home crying. I didn’t have any premonition that such a thing would happen.
When did the new tenant move into the house?
They packed in on Thursday (December 14, 2023) and this (the abduction) happened on Saturday (December 16, 2023). I had no feeling that such a thing could happen here. We were living in peace in that house, and that necessitated my stay there for 12 years. I am the oldest tenant in the compound now. We lived peacefully even with tenants who moved out. We had no problems that would make me feel that such a thing would happen. I have not been having any visions or dreams and I cannot sleep. None of us have slept since Saturday (December 16, 2023) when this happened.
What do you want the government to do for you?
All I want is for the government to help us search and rescue those kids wherever they are. It should also help us identify and arrest the perpetrators where they are. Only God knows where the children are. I have been asking Him to bring them back and to expose the suspects as their time has come to an end. Who knows the condition of the children?
