She was rescued on Thursday around 7.30
pm when neighbours living close to the building where she was chained
alerted the police.
She was rescued barely a week after the
police and operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps
rescued a nine-year-old boy, Korede Taiwo, chained by his father,
Francis, for over a month for stealing.
The father and his step-mother, Kehinde, would soon appear in court.
The acting Police Public Relations
Officer in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said Promise was chained by her
aunt, Chiamaka Okafor, who accused her of stealing N4,000.
She was said to have been chained for two days (Wednesday and Thursday) before she was rescued.
Oyeyemi said Chiamaka is currently on the run but her husband, Sunday Okafor has been arrested.
Narrating how the police found the
child, the police spokesperson said, “We had an information that the
girl was chained to a burglarproof window at an uncompleted building at
Adigbe area and this led our men to the scene.
“The girl told us that it was her aunty
who chained her on the allegation that she stole a sum of N4,000. The
woman is now on the run, while her husband, who is an accomplice, has
been arrested and he is helping us in our investigation.”
Chiamaka, however, escaped arrest on
Friday around 4pm, when the Divisional Police Officer of Adigbe led a
team of policemen and journalists to the home of the Okafors, tucked in
the inner part of the area.
On sighting the police team, she
allegedly fled through the backdoor, leaving behind her four children
including a baby of about six months.
One of them, Godwin said,”our mummy has gone to buy baby food.”
A frantic search for her in the
neighbourhood did not yield any positive result. However, three of the
Okafors’ relatives and a tenant who occupied the boys quarters in the
house, were arrested.
The tenant, Segun Poviesi, who’s a
Beninese, said the landlady (Chiamaka) was still in the house, barely
few minutes before the arrival of the police team.
He said, “She was still around about two
minutes before you arrived here. I could hear splash of water from the
bathroom of the main building. But I did not know how she escaped.”
But his fiancee, Omotoyosi Odu,
confirmed that Chiamaka, who is the landlady, indeed chained Promise,
adding that she was starved for the two days before she was rescued. She
told the policemen that the victim was first chained to burglarproof
iron in the Okafors’ kitchen, before she was later transferred to a room
in the uncompleted part of the boys quarters.
She said, “At a point, when the girl was
chained to the window in the kitchen, she was crying out to me that ‘I
should please give her food.’ Other neighbours too heared her cry.
“Then the landlord had left home for
their shop at Pansheke Market. Later, the girl was moved to the boys’
quarters and chained again. Some of us tried to intervene but she warned
us to steer clear, because it was none of our business.”
It could not be established whether Promise is a relation of the Okafors or a housemaid.
Meanwhile, Oyeyemi, an Assistant
Superintendent of Police, said the new state Commissioner of Police, has
ordered the arrest of the fleeing suspect,Chiamaka, who allegedly
chained the victim.
He said, “The Commissioner of Police,
IIiyasu Ahmed, has ordered a manhunt for the fleeing woman in order to
bring her to justice, so as to serve as deterrent to others.
“The commissioner of police is not happy
with the situation barely a week after one Korede Taiwo was equally
rescued from similar situation.
“The matter is under investigation and
the police is after Chiamaka Okafor. As soon as we complete the
investigation, they will be charged to court.”
Promise has been moved to the welfare home, Stella Obasanjo Children’s Home, Ibara GRA, Abeokuta.
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