Five children were abducted by a woman from their homes after she disguised as a teacher in the Rukpakulusi axis of Eliozu in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Three children aged between 18-months and four years old were said to have been kidnapped from one family and two others snatched from another family.
The mother of the first three abducted children, Rose Monday, told newsmen in Port Harcourt that the woman took her children when they went over to their neighbours to play.
Monday said the woman had disguised as a home lesson teacher looking to rent a makeshift structure in the area.
The devastated woman further said her children were last seen after the woman took them to buy notebooks, saying they never knew that she had a hidden agenda.
She explained, “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’.She said one aunty (woman) said she will bring them home.
“I asked where the woman had taken them to and she replied that the woman took her to Oil Mill (a popular market in Port Harcourt) to start taking them on lessons and she and the other children followed her.
“They (children) were seven including one of my neighbour’s children. She said the woman told her to go that she has given her money for transport, that she will bring her brothers to the house.”
Monday’s 14-year old daughter who was initially abducted by the mystery woman narrated how she (woman) let her and their neighbour’s son off around the Oil Mill Market axis, but went away with the other five children.
The teenager said, “I told the aunty that the small one (child) don’t know how to write by herself, and the woman can go and buy the books.
“The woman said no, that she likes little children. As I followed her, she started watching me. When I returned the looks, 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 she wants to take the children to go 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.”
The mother of the other two children, Blessing Emmanuel, said the mystery woman had hired her husband to buy materials to construct a makeshift structure before she kidnapped her children.
“So, this woman told the children that she organises lessons (home classes) and that if she sees a way, she will 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 was a former neighbour, I allowed my children to follow them,” she explained.
When contacted, the acting spokesperson of the state police command, Grace Iringe-Koko confirmed the incident, describing the parents of the abducted children as ‘careless’.
She said, “Those people (parents) were they not careless? Somebody came to you that she is a teacher, went to their house, and told them she wants 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 (police) have commenced investigation to ensure that the children are rescued, as well as arrest the woman and make her face the law.”
She, however, advised parents to be vigilant and report suspicious characters coming around their children in whatever disguise to the police or raise the alarm where necessary.