MISSING FOUR KIDS: ABIA ASSEMBLY WANTS OTTI, SECURITY AGENCIES, KEKE OPERATORS INTERVENTION. (PHOTO).

Missing four kids: Abia Assembly wants Otti, security agencies, keke operators’ intervention

The Abia State House of Assembly has passed a resolution calling on the state government and security agencies in the state to step up all efforts to urgently rescue the four kids of same parents, who got missing recently in Umuagu Ibeku, Umuahia North Local Government Area of the state.

The resolution followed a motion on matter of urgent public importance, brought before the House by the member representing Ukwa West state constituency and chairman, House Committee on Women Affairs, Goddy Adiele.

He informed the House of the pathetic case of the widely reported case of missing seven-year-old set of twins, Mmesomachi and Chinweotito, four-year-old Munachimso and two-year-old Godswill, all children of Mr and Mrs Chimaobi Aga and pupils of Great Ambassadors College, Okaiuga Nkwoegwu, Umuahia North LG, stressing the need for every effort to be made to rescue the children.

Relating what happened, Adiele said, “The state has been awash with the unpalatable news. There is the urgent need for more efforts to be intensified to ensure that the whereabouts of these four innocent children are known, for them to be urgently be reunited with their parents. As I stand here to speak to you, I am highly devastated, emotionally handicapped and my heart is bleeding.

“Today, this thing is happening to Mr and Mrs Chimaobi Aga, and nobody knows whose turn it is tomorrow, though I don’t pray for that. There is this adage that says, once bitten, twice shy and another that says an injury to one is injury to all. I can’t stand to imagine the emotional and excruciating pains and trauma this mother and father are experiencing, what they are passing through at this moment, losing four children who they bid farewell to in the morning and they couldn’t hear from them again, especially, the two-year-old.

“Honourable colleagues, can you imagine the situation your two-year-old child, I know how they run on your chest when you want to sleep, they climb on us, come down, demand for this or that, but for two weeks now, this child and his siblings have not been seen.

“As far as I am concerned, I feel that the government, which I am part of, has not done enough. As an arm of government, the most important arm of the government of the state, we as a House, are supposed to take control of checks and balances on issues. I decided to move this motion because lives are involved and I know that my honourable colleagues will add their positive voices to these requests and prayers:

“One, that the House arrange a little financial assistance to the family to cushion the high demand of expenses arising from all their efforts to discover the whereabouts of their children and as well visit the parents of the missing children.

“By so doing, we would be empathising with the public and the direct family of these four missing children, who I strongly feel that by God’s grace, will be found, and wherever they are keeping them, God will locate them.

“I think that this arm of government is capable of putting a purse across because from that day up till now, even if you tell that woman and the husband to go and sit inside the pit toilet to get these children out, they would do so. You know what the country is like. Anybody that tries to help you, must take something from you. I hope this prayer number one is going to be given a considerable consideration.

“My number two prayer is that the state government, which shoulders the responsibility of securing everything in this state, should step up actions by calling on all the security chiefs – the police, DSS, the Army, the NSCDC, and above them all, the local vigilantes across the state – to gather relevant intelligence to find out where the beasts who abducted the children are hiding these children because, I have yet to believe that we cannot find these children again.”

“Government has all it takes, logistically and otherwise to follow up this matter adequately because, it doesn’t portray a good image for the state; it doesn’t portray a good image for Abia.

“Finally and the most important of all the prayers, is that the Almighty God, should intervene on behalf of the innocent children. They don’t know what is happening, even where they are now, if they give them biscuits and promise them that their father is coming at any moment to take them, they will accept, thinking that it is true. My prayer is that the Almighty God should intervene and produce whoever will be capable of assisting to finding where the beasts that took them is hiding them.

“There is nothing we can do to find these children that will be too much, compared to the problems, the excruciating pains that the parents are passing through.

“I therefore pray that all of us will contribute to ensure that these children will be found wherever they are.”

The motion, which caught the attention and support of all members of the House, moved the House into resolving to visit the family in solidarity and support them in this their trying times.

The Speaker, Chief Emmanuel Emeruwa, while announcing the resolution of the House, called on the leadership of the tricycle operators to also get involved in resolving the mystery, which has the tendency of tarnishing their image.

He stressed the need for parents and guardians to be cautious of the way they handle little kids in times like these to avoid such unfortunate occurrences.

The member representing Umuahia Central state constituency, Hon. Anthony Chinasa, noted that the situation is sympathetic, expressing worry that “the carelessness of their parents is already calling the attention of the public and the action of the government,” as the children are not old enough to handle themselves to the extent of allowing them to go to school by themselves. He urged the House to look into the three prayers.

Hon. Mathias Ume Nwachi of Umunneohi state constituency, said that the incident is a litmus test for the security agencies in the state, stating, “I know and I am convinced that they are not sleeping, but let it be heard that this House of Assembly is mandating them to put in more efforts.”

The Deputy Speaker, and member representing Umuahia East, Rt. Hon. Augustine Okezie, and in whose domain the incident happened, urged the House to collaborate with the security apparatus of the state such that “where noise needs to be made, where appropriate noise needs to be generated to create much consciousness amongst Abians, no stone must be left unturned in making the noise.”

He said if it is a child, one knows how it feels and now that four children are involved, “I don’t think anything can be worse than that kind of situation.”

He called for an appropriate committee to be set up to liaise with security agencies on the matter.

Describing the situation as appalling, the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Emeruwa, said, “All of us condemn it in totality,” adding that the House accepted all the prayers in the submission.

He averred that the keke association in that area (route) should be investigated to see if there can be any help from their own end, adding, “We need to get them involved to see who is who in that association and to put some measures in a proper way to identify these people.”

He described it as unfortunate that the kids are left to go to school alone at those ages, adding, “The parents also has some responsibilities here.”

Recall that the four children of Mr and Mrs Aga were on Monday, 27th November, 2023 reported missing after their mother prepared and boarded them in a tricycle to take them to school from their Umuagu Ibeku Umuahia residence.

As at date, the children are yet to be found and the police has stepped in and is investigating.