REV. SISTER ROTS IN JAIL … For buying and selling stolen babies
Pastor’s son on the run for stealing 2 kids in church
Operatives of the Police Intelligence Response Team(IRT) has in its custody, Reverend Sister Geraldine Chime of St Paul Catholic Church, Gwagwalada, Abuja over the theft of four children.
She was alleged to have bought two of the
children for the sum of one million from a suspected child trafficker
identified as Obiageli Okoro who is based in Anambra. Two others were
also bought from another child trafficker, Caleb who is based in
Kafanchan, Niger state and is currently on the run.
On their arrest, police sources said they
got intelligence on the activities of a syndicate stealing and selling
children. One such was Obiageli who is alleged to have stolen and sold
several children from Anambra State with the aid of her gang members
spread across the state.
The officer in charge of IRT , ACP Abba
Kyari subsequently deployed his men to follow the trail of Obiageli.
Aided with data generated, the detectives tracked and arrested Obiageli
in Bayelsa where she had gone to recruit more members who would help her
abduct kids from their parents. After her arrest, she took detectives
to the orphanage where she sold two children, Chinonso and Daberechi to
Reverend Sister Chime who owns the orphanage home in Abuja.
Obiageli confessed that Chinonso, 7, was
abducted sometime in January while Daberechi, 6, was stolen in April
from their various homes in Nnokwa, Anambra State. Luckily, Daberechi
was still at the orphanage when police stormed the home. Chinonso who
had long been given out to one Chigozie Onuzuruike who lives in
satellite town, Ojo, Lagos State was rescued. He was rescued from the
family who alleged they gave Rev. Sister Chime N700,000 before they were allowed to adopt the boy.
Currently on the wanted list of the
police is Nnanna, the son of one of the pastors in Assemblies of God
Church, Nnokwa in Anambra State. He was identified by the children as
the Uncle who handed them over to an unknown woman.
Excited parents rejoice
Excited and grateful to God , Veronica Anake, the mother of Daberechi
recalled that her son went missing in April after a midweek church
service. “I live and worship in Assemblies of God Church , Nnokwa,
Anambra State. I went to church with him and at his age , he can
comfortably find his way home. I was not bothered when I could not find
him in church after the service. I assumed that he had gone home till I
got back around 8pm and discovered he was not there.
“We ran back to the church and searched
for him. We also visited members of the church who he loves visiting.
This was when it dawned on my family that what happened to Chinonso
might have happened to Daberechi my son. Chinonso, the son of a member
of our church went missing since January. We reported to the church and nearest police station who assured us that they will search and find my
son, Daberechi. On our own, we were also searching and praying till six
months later when we received a call from the police in Abuja that they
have found my son.
“We never knew that the police in Abuja
were also looking for our children. The police station that we reported
the matter only asked us to pray.”
The second parent, Mr James Eze said the
family had lost hope of finding their son, Chinonso when they received a
call from the police in Abuja.
“I am from Umaji, in Enugu Ezike but I
reside in Nnokwa, Anambra State. I am also a member of Assemblies of God
church. My son got missing on January 9, 2017. Around 7pm, we
discovered that he was not available to eat dinner with the others. We
searched for him everywhere that he normally goes to play and discovered
that he was not there. We also rushed to Nnewi police station that
night and reported that our son was missing. They said we should return
after 24 hours. We waited till then and went back to the police station.
They took our statement and asked us to check back regularly incase
they find him.
“We also informed our church members to
pray with us while we tried our best to search for my son. While we were
looking for my son, another boy in our church also went missing. We had
lost hope till 11 months after when I received a call that police in
Abuja found my son. No one believed that the person who stole our son
was from the church. I was shocked when my son told me that it was
Nnanna the son of our pastor that abducted and sold them for N500,000.
“I cannot believe that it is possible for
police to work without asking for money. We did not know that Abuja was
also busy looking for our lost sons. It was God who raised them on our
behalf when Nnewi police failed us.”
Also with the parents of the stolen
children was Rev. Loveday Ukandu , a senior pastor at the Assemblies of
God, Nnewi. “ I was sent to escort these our members to Abuja to recover
their children. The children that were missing are our children and we
have been praying and believing God for such a miracle. I did not
believe it till we got to Abuja. They were informed that these children
were missing and yet they on their own tracked and found our children.
They also traced our numbers and invited us over without asking for a
kobo.”
When confronted with the allegation that
it was the son of their pastor that abducted the children, Rev. Ukandu
said this discovery explains why he disappeared after the second child
got missing. “I believe that the same police that found these children
and their abductors will find him”, he stated.
I never knew the kids were stolen
–Rev. Sister
–Rev. Sister
At the police station, Rev. Sister
Geraldine Chime aged 44 said that she was not aware that paying for a
child is a crime. “I am very sorry. I have learnt my lessons ever since
the police arrested me.”
On her journey to priesthood, Chime said
that she was ordained in far away Rome sometime in 2000. “I am from Oji
River in Enugu State. I knew some Reverend sisters based in Rome. They
were the ones who assisted me to get my application processed and I was
invited to Rome for the ordination. About a year after the ordination , I
came back to Nigeria. Seven years ago, I was posted to St Paul Catholic
church, Gwagalada. As ministers, we are allowed to engage in any extra
curricular activity as long as it will help to better the life of the
poor.
“So I was excited when Rev.Fr Godwin
Nnadozie suggested that we could establish an orphanage home. We
gathered funds and established an orphanage home known as Oblate of the
Poor at Gwagalada, Abuja. We registered it at the Corporate Affairs Commission, Abuja with the consent of the welfare department at Abuja.
“The orphanage was established strictly to help the poor. We welcome children
whose mothers are dead. Normally
their fathers will bring them and we will train them till they are of
age to hand them over to their fathers. We also have children from very
poor homes. They will bring them and promise to send across as much as
they can afford to help us take care of them. Majority will abandon
their children and run away.”
According to her, the orphanage depends
solely on contributions from banks, churches, groups and individuals.
“We receive a lot of gifts from individuals, groups, churches and
sometimes banks. We do not give those ones out for adoption because we
know that the parents will come for them one day. I depend on other
orphanages to get children for adoption. Because of the good works that
we are doing, a lot of couples rely on us to help them adopt children.
“Because of our standard , some
orphanages normally bring their children to us because they do not have
customers. There is no way we could know the real source of these
children because the people who brought them are owners of orphanages.”
On the four children that landed her in
police cell, Rev. Sister Chime said she paid N500,000 for each of them.
“Early this year, Obiageli brought two children from Anambra while Caleb
brought another two from Kafanchan in Kaduna State. I paid them
N500,000 each for the children and gave three of them to waiting
parents. I was about to give the fourth one out when Obiageli brought
policemen to my orphanage. I was shocked when the police told me that
the four of them were stolen from their parents.”
Rev. Chime alleged that she was assured
that two of the children were from an orphanage while the other two were
from single mothers who wanted to get married. “In January, I traveled
to my village in Oji River. Obiageli called me and said that she has a
small boy. I asked her to bring the boy to my village. I gave her
N500,000 cash.
In May , she called again that she has
another boy. I told her to bring the boy to Abuja, which she did. She
said that the money was urgently needed to settle the parent of the
child who is a single mother. She told me that the mother of the child
wanted to get married and did not want her husband to know that she had a
child in the past. She also said the woman intended to use the money to
buy things for her wedding.”
She admitted to the police that she had
given out about 14 children but assured that the process of adoption was
legitimate. “I keep in touch with most of the couples who frequently
send information concerning the children. I had never had any issue
except this. I paid N500, 000 for each of them and gave them out to
parents who will pay N750,000 for the adoption. Rev. Fr. Nnadozie is not
aware of most of the adoption because he is in far away Gambia on
mission. The catholic church is not also aware of the activities of the
orphanage.”
The second suspect, Obiageli Okoro aged
35 also denied knowledge that the children were stolen. According to the
mother of four, one Chukwuma who is currently on the run contacted her
and told her that he has two boys for adoption.
“I am an indigene of Nnewi in Anambra State. I am happily married with four children within the age of 9 and 2. Chukwuma
is a pharmacist who used to live in our compound. Sometime in January,
he called me and asked if I knew of any reliable orphanage that accepts
children for adoption. I remembered that Sister Chime has an orphanage
in Abuja.
“I got to know her through my
sister-in-law who sent me to her last year. I went to Kaduna and on way
back went to visit her in Abuja. It was then that I knew that she owns
an orphanage. As soon as Chukwuma contacted me, I told her that I have a
boy, Chinonso of about eight years. She asked me to bring him to her
village in Oji River as she was at home. I met Chukwuma at Nnewi
roundabout where I picked the child and travelled to Oji River. She
collected the boy and gave me N500,000 as agreed.
Chukwuma paid me N150, 000 for the transaction and left with the rest.
“Sometime in May, he called me again that
he has another child called Daberechi. This time around I took the boy
to her orphanage in Abuja and she gave me N100,000 with a promise to pay
the rest later. Days later she sent the money to me and I also received
N150,000 as my share.
“I went ahead with the business because
Chukwuma assured me that it was genuine. I felt that since he has an
orphanage, he will not involve himself in child theft.”
She also claimed that she is not aware
paying for child is a crime. “I do not know that it is a crime. A lot of
orphanages collect big money for adoption. Our own was even very cheap.
I am a hairdresser and the money that I am making is not enough to take
care of my four children. I used the money to pay school fees and
bought plenty of foodstuff for the house. My husband is irresponsible
and cannot provide for us.”
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