By CHIDI NKWOPARA, Owerri
Commercial motorcycle operators in all parts of the country obviously have their ugly sides. They unduly get on people’s nerves. Apart from  that, they also account for a good percentage of road traffic crashes, especially in city centres. But experience has also shown that there are some good ones among them.

Sunday, October 16, 2011, will, however, remain evergreen in the hearts of the Chinonso Agbasoga family of Igbugankwo village, Orsu Obodo, Oguta local government area of Imo State. The Parish Priest and congregation of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, Orsu Obodo, will also not forget this date in a hurry.

This was a day commercial motorcycle operators displayed patriotism, played the Good Samaritan and saved two brothers, Gift and Emmanuel Agbasoga, from a 19-year-old kidnapper, Miss Tina Enebere.

*Emmanuel(l), who was kidnapped and his brother, Gift

There was never any  indication to prepare the Agbasoga family for this near ugly incident on this particular day. Mr. Agbasoga, a furniture maker and widower, prepared his three children, Favour (7), Gift (5) and Emmanuel (3), for the 10am mass before going to visit his sister.

Younger brothers

Being the oldest child, Favour had ultimately been transformed into the mother of the house since they lost their mother. On this particular Sunday, as was always the practice in the past, Favour again led his younger brothers to Church.

Vanguard Metro gathered that they were already seated in the Church when Miss Enebere walked into the church, sat beside the children, as well as opened very friendly discussions with the impressionable, innocent lads. They obviously thought they had met a new friend and simply got lost in the discussion.

The circuit was completed when Favour left her brothers in the care of the strange girl and went to sit in front of the Church. Apparently aware that she was in perfect control of the situation, Enebere gave the children her telephone handset to play with. She later offered the two brothers ice cream.

Having won the hearts of the two brothers, she then walked them to the back of the Church sacristy. They remained there for a while before she took them away from the Church premises. Their next port of call was the banks of Oguta Lake, which is about 20 minutes walk from the church, where she planned to use a speed boat to ferry her human cargo across to Oguta 1.

Every other thing worked perfectly well for her until she made a serious miscalculation that eventually punctured her calculation. She decided to take three-year-old Emmanuel and left his five-year-old elder brother, Gift.

The innocent boy wept bitterly. He refused to be consoled. His weeping attracted the commercial motorcyclists stationed nearby. On inquiry, Enebere told them that she was taking Emmanuel to somebody who would help the boy’s father in his upkeep.

Not really satisfied with the girl’s explanation, they prevented the girl from ferrying the boy across the Lake. Still sensing that something was fishy about Enebere’s mission, the Okada men decided to put a call across to Mr. Chinonso Agbasoga. He flatly denied knowledge of the touted plan of taking his son to a foster father. The angry Okada operators instantly beat the girl to stupor.

Expectedly, Agbasoga rushed to the scene but was simply short of words on sighting the 19-year-old Enebere. He could not understand why the teenager opted to embrace crime at such an early age. He, however, thanked God for saving the family from what would have been double tragedy.

Explaining her part in the grand design to steal the little boy, Enebere claimed she is a native of Umutogume and a final year student of Kings Secondary School, Mmahu, Egbema. Enebere said she needed money to pay her school fees, as well as register for her West African School Certificate Examination, WAEC.

According to Miss Enebere,  she had a deal with another woman she met at Oguta Junction, Mgbidi, Oru West Local Government Area of Imo State, when she was staying with her mum in one private hospital (name withheld).

Continuing, Enebere said she approached this strange woman for financial assistance, adding that the woman agreed to help on the ground that Enebere should supply her with babies. She neither mentioned the name and address of her partner in crime nor how much she planned selling the boy she stole.

On why she chose the church premises to act out her criminal act, Enebere said she was aware it was the only place she could find children in large number. She denied knowing the Agbasogas before embarking on the illicit assignment.

Reacting to the incident, the Parish Priest of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, Orsu Obodo, Rev. Fr. Ernest Muforo, recalled with grief how hoodlums recently tried to steal six-year-old Onyedika Ekegha, also from the community.

“It was sheer divine intervention that the kidnappers’ car broke down in neighbouring Mgbele village. They abandoned the little boy and fled the scene before anybody knew their mission,” Rev. Fr. Muforo recalled.

When contacted on the phone, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Mr. Linus Nwaiwu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, DSP, decried the increasing cases of child-stealing and kidnapping in the state.

He assured the citizenry that the State Police Command will take necessary action in dealing with the instant case, stressing that the Police was doing everything possible to combat crime and criminals in the state.

The PPRO passionately appealed to parents to take proper interest in their children, know where they are and the type of persons they keep as their friends, adding that security is everybody’s business.