According to the police, Chime, 44, collected
two boys, believed to have stolen from Assembly of God’s Church in Anambra
State between January and April 2017.
Investigators said that Chime, also
operates an orphanage home, known as Oblek of the Foundation Orphanage Home, Gwagalada
Abuja.
Chime was arrested with an
accomplice named Obby Okoro, 35. The police said that Okoro used to supply male
children to Chime for sale.
The hunt and arrest of Chime and her
alleged members of syndicate was led by an Assistant Commissioner of Police
(ACP), Abba Kyari.
The police said: “The syndicate specialised
in kidnapping children from churches across the South Eastern part of the
country, and then sell to the Reverend Sister for N500, 000. The Reverend
Sister would then resell them to people in need of children.”
Okoro was said to be part of the
syndicate that used to steal children from churches and sell to Chime.
In the course of investigation,
Okoro was trailed to Lagos by IRT operatives and arrested. During
interrogation, she confessed to have sold two boys to Chime. She also disclosed
that the victims’ ages are between seven and six years old.
The police said: “Okoro admitted
that the children were kidnapped from their churches in Norkwa and Nnewi area
of Anambra State by the son of their pastor called Nnana. Operatives took Okoro
to the Gwagalada home of the Revered Sister, where one of the kidnapped boys,
Daberechi Ameke, was rescued. The Reverend Sister was also arrested. Okoro also
led operatives to Monkey Village area of Lagos, where the other child,
Chinnonso Eze was rescued.”
Parents of the victims, James Eze
and Veronica Ameke, recalled how their children were abducted. The two parents,
members of the Assembly of God’s Church in Anambra State, alleged that their
pastor’s son, Nana stole and sold their children.
Veronica noted: “My six-year-old son,
Daberechi was kidnapped on April 28, 2017, during a night vigil service at the
Nokwa branch of the Assembly of God Church. The second child, Chinnonso is
just seven-year-old. He was kidnapped on January 9, 2017.”
Veronica further said: “I took
Daberechi to a night vigil in my church, Assembly of God’s Church, where I worship
at Nnokwa, Idemili Local Government Area. I started looking for him around 8:
pm before the start of the night vigil, but we couldn’t find him. We also went
to Nnobi Police Station and reported.
“We gave his picture to the police,
and we continued searching for him. We went to so many churches to look for him.
They told us that he was still alive. We kept on praying. I have five children,
but Deberechi is my last child. On September 29, 2017, the police in Awka
arrested some people that specialised in kidnapping children. When they were
interrogated, they confessed and fingered our pastor’s son, Nana as their
leader.
“Nana escaped, but some of his gang
members were arrested. The police went after his father. Luckily, I received a
call from one of my church members that Deberechi had been found by the police
in Abuja. I rushed down to Abuja. My son
told me that Nana picked him from the church and handed him over to someone. The
person brought him to Abuja.”
The Revered Sister, however, denied knowing
that the boys she bought, were kidnapped.
She explained that the woman who
brought the boys to her, lied to her that the children had no parents and
needed homes to stay.
Chime said: “I’m from Oji
River in Enugu State. In our orphanage home, we have children whom their
mothers brought to us. There are also some others that were brought by
their relatives after the death of their parents. We also have some children
from poor families. I was arrested because a lady brought two children to
my orphanage on January 2017. The second child was brought to us in May.
“I didn’t know that the children
were kidnapped. The woman, who brought the children to me, said that they had
no parents. She told me she got them from a woman who runs an orphanage in the
South East. I knew the woman who brought those children to me through her
sister-in-law. She was the person who asked if I needed children to give
out for adoption, I said yes. I told her that I would call her when people that
wanted to adopt children were on ground. Last January, a woman, who had been
married for many years and needed a child, came to me and requested for a
child. I called her and told her that someone needed a male child; she brought
the first child. I gave the child to the woman who needed him. The
woman paid N650, 000. The woman that brought the child was given N500, 000.
“I used the remaining to prepare documents
for the adoption. I usually prepare the adoption documents from Kaduna
State because the people at the Abuja welfare refused to do it for me.
Whenever I’m preparing the documents, I would give the welfare
officials the name of the adopting parent and that of the child. I will also
pay the sum of N60, 000. I have 15 children in my orphanage and we have
no international affiliations; but we source our funds through donations.”
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