‘I fainted when my son disappeared’

How a lady and her boyfriend stole a five-year-old boy in Rivers 

A FIVE-YEAR-OLD boy, Michael Michael, was playing outside with friends in their compound in Ogbogoro community of Obio/Akpor Local Council of Rivers State when a lady, Chinasa Ajunwo, 22, beckoned on him to come.

Chinasa, it was gathered, pretended to have known Michael before, as she interacted freely with the boy, thereby deflecting any suspicious motives from onlookers.

When she noticed there was no further attention on her, she took the boy and fled to Ogbakiri village in Emuoha Local Council of the State where her boyfriend lives. A few weeks later, Chinasa took Michael, who bears his grandfather’s name (Michael) as surname, to a private school in the area called Queens and Kings Institute located at Oduoha, Ogbakiri in Emuoha Local Council and registered him.

The school management did not, however, care about the real identity of pupils, who were brought in for registration. Chinasa told everyone in the area that Michael was her son as she takes him to school in the morning and brings him back after school.

As she enjoyed the glamour of school runs, with undisclosed plans that she and her boyfriend intended using Michael for, Michael’s real mother, Evelyn, 22, who is carrying a six-month- old pregnancy, went into a coma after hearing the news of the disappearance of her first child.

Evelyn told The Guardian: “When I heard the news of the disappearance of my son, I fainted, I could not eat for four days and my condition worsened as a pregnant woman.

My mother had died last month following the unending search for my son.” She disclosed that the child had lived with his suspected kidnapper for three months, stressing that he was declared missing on April 17, 2015 and was only found last week.

On how Michael was found, Evelyn said her neighbour in Obio/Akpor, who hails from Ogbakiri where Michael was taken to, travelled home to see her parents and on her way back, she sighted the boy when her abductor was taking him to school.

According to her, the neighbour said to herself, Michael’s face looks familiar, especially like that of the missing child in Obio/skpor. She hurriedly called Michael’s family and related the information and Michael’s grandfather was the first to arrive the school where he properly identified the boy by calling him his native name and also spoke Andoni, his native language to him and he responded.

At this stage, the abductor, Chinasa, was still insisting that Michael was her son, arguing that she was ready to go to any length over her claim.

Her boyfriend also came out and claimed that he impregnated Chinasa five years ago and she gave birth to the said child. When the school management could not handle the matter, they referred them to the royal father of the land, and the monarch directed that Michael’s biological mother be invited.

When Evelyn Michael eventually arrived, the monarch asked her to identify a mark on the boy, and she quickly identified a birthmark on her son and further spoke his native language, which, Michael responded to fluently.

The monarch asked Chinasa to do the same, but she failed the test. It was at this point that the police was invited to arrest her. Chinasa is, at present, under police custody as she was paraded last week at the State Police Headquarters, Moscow Road, Port Harcourt.

When asked why she stole the child, Chinasa said she had a major operation that led to the removal of her womb and as the doctor had told her she could not have a baby anymore, she decided to embark on the mission of abducting Michael.

She further denied allegations that she had planned with her boyfriend to use the boy for rituals later in life. She said: “My boyfriend and I did not intend to use Michael for rituals as people have alleged.

I was forced to take the child because doctors told me that I can never have a child again in my life due to a major operation I had.” The State Police Commissioner, Chris Ezike, said she would be charged to court immediately.

Michael’s mother is full of excitement that her son had been found and that she would also be in the good state of mind to deliver the baby she’s expecting. Also speaking, his grandfather, Mr. Michael, lauded the police efforts and thanked the Almighty for the safe return of his grandchild.