After a failed attempt by a member of Pastor Nwankwo's church, Rosemary Chukwu (Mama Ifunaya) - a mother of four - to kidnap her neighbor's 7 year old son, Emeka Emmanuel.Emmanuel said Mama Ifunaya, who was a neighbour, lured him into her room, strangled him, covered his mouth with clothes before tying him up with rope to prevent him from screaming.
He said, “I wanted to draw water and take my bath before going to school when she told me to come. I went because I know her; she is Mama Ifunnaya. But when I got to her side, she threw me inside her room… she closed her net. She then tied me and put me inside a box.
“I wanted to shout, but I could not shout properly. I heard my mummy’s voice when she was looking for me, but I could not shout. She (pointing to the suspect) is a wicked person.”
Emmanuel’s neck had marks, while his eyes were bloodshot.
The victim’s mother, Mrs. Gloria Emeka, told Punch that she never suspected her neighbour because while she was searching for her child, the suspect was in her room with her children praying and shouting “holy ghost fire.”
She said she later discovered it was a ploy to prevent her from hearing Emmanuel’s screams.
She said, “On Tuesday morning, I was preparing Emmanuel to go to school. He told me he wanted to fetch the water from the well.
“I left him and went inside the kitchen where I was cooking. But what I heard next was the muffled voice of my child and I ran out.
“I began shouting his name, but I didn’t see him. I, however, observed that my neighbour’s door was slightly opened and I entered. I met her children and asked them if they saw Emmanuel, but they said no.
“I looked everywhere without a trace of my son. People joined me and we searched the surroundings, but we couldn’t find him.
“My landlady’s son entered the well to see if he fell into the well, but he came out and said he couldn’t find anything.”
While this was on, Mama Ifunaya was said to have sent her four kids out of the house.
More people joined the search party, while Mama Ifunaya stayed in her mini-flat apartment.
“Later, we saw her leaving the house with a box on her head. She said she was travelling. It was my landlady that challenged her why she could go out when everybody was busy searching for Emmanuel.
“The landlady asked her to stop, but she suddenly increased her pace and started running. That was how the landlady shouted, ‘kidnapper, kidnapper’, and people ran after her.”
The box was said to have fallen, and when it was opened, the missing boy was found in it.
On interrogation, she said her pastor, the General Overseer of Holy Family Ministry a.k.a House of Mercy, asked her to bring the boy. The area boys followed her to 319, Lagos Road, Ikorodu, where the church is situated.
Arriving at the building at 7, Oshodi Street, which was directly at the back of the church building and owned by Pastor Ernest, the residents and area boys found men and women, eight in number, chained and looking frail.
One of the captives, a 50 year old woman said she was kidnapped while returning from a night vigil, while another 52 year old man said he was a commercial bus driver and was kidnapped two years ago.
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