Abia State Police Command has announced the recovery of Master David Okoye who was stolen from his mother’s shop in Aba.
The command in a statement from the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Geoffrey Ogbonna said the child was stolen on August 21, 2020, prompting the state Police Commissioner, Janet Agbede to order the men of Rapid Response Squad (RRS) to recover the child as well as arrest the culprits.
He explained that the RRS, led by Mr. John-Bull Obioguru began the search for the missing child, adding that their efforts finally yielded fruit on December 29, 2020 when the child was located and recovered at Arochukwu L.G.A. of Abia State from an illegal adoption syndicate.
“The RRS operatives swung into action and recovered the child at Arochukwu in Abia State on 29th of December, 2020 after he had been given out for illegal adoption at N800,000”, the statement reads.
The statement added , “On 1st of January, 2021, the parents of David, Mr. Ikechukwu and Precious Okoye came to RRS in Aba North Local Government Area and the baby was handed over to them hale and hearty.”
The command also used the occasion to warn the general public against patronising illegal criminal baby adoption syndicate but to only go for adoption through government approved and certified homes.
The command further warned that anyone caught indulging in illegal adoption would be arrested to face the law.
It also cautioned parents to maintain adequate watch over their children.
Narrating how his child was stolen, the father of David, Mr. Ikechukwu Okoye said he was in his workplace on August 21, 2020 when his wife ran to inform him that their child had been stolen from their shop by a customer who came to buy some items.
Okoye added that his wife said she had gone to get balance for the supposed customer but neither found the neither ‘customer’ no the child upon return.
He disclosed it was during a search for their missing child that the parents of another child who had also been stolen in a nearby compound in Abayi, Aba, gave an exact description of David.
Okoye further said that police in the course of their investigation, found out that the suspect who took away the two children lived in the same compound with the parents of one of his victims, thus enabling the police to begin investigation from the suspect’s relations.
He thanked the Abia Police Command for their efforts in rescuing his child, adding that it was months of emotional torture for him and his wife during the long period their son went missing.
