Pictured above is Chukwudi Ordu, before his ordeal in the hands of kidnappers who also took his mother and siblings. He and his mother have since been rescued and reunited, but his younger ones remain missing.
Mrs. Charity Ordu, a widow and middle-aged mother of four from Umuonu Mgbuusii in Ohaji/Egbema LGA of Imo State would have been dead, buried and forgotten if not for providence, which saw her saved from the hands of abductors. She was forcefully taken away from her home on her way to her parents village Obitti in Ohaji, in November 2015. She was taken to Obehi, headquarters of Ukwa West LGA of Abia State alongside her one-year-old daughter and two male children, aged 5 and 3, respectively.
Early morning of that fateful day, the victim and her children had come out to the popular Ilile Junction to get on a motorcycle to her parents’ home only to be accosted by the abductor, identified as Blessing. Mrs. Ordu told Daily Trust that she believes he used an amulet in a white handkerchief he brought out from his pocket.
The widow, narrating her experience at her parents’ house in Obitti, Ohaji/Egbema LGA, said that the first suspect, identified as Raymond, who is from the same village as her late husband, had on the 17th of November 2015 visited her house to tell her that a friend of his wants to assist her train her children and herself if she would want to have a close relationship with him.
Mrs. Ordu said she completely rebuffed Raymond’s request and insisted that she was not interested. But that same evening, Raymond and his friend Blessing, came to her house on the same issue, which angered her even more. She repeated herself very clearly that since her late husband died in 2012, she has been coping with life and does not need help or marriage with him, as was demanded. She said that the two suspects left her house when they realized her strong position, only for Blessing to change his plans and wait by the road to abduct her.
According to her, the abductor, on hearing her voice while on her way to the junction, dashed out of a beer parlour, confronted her and immediately brought out a white handkerchief containing the amulet he used to enchant her. At that moment, she said, she lost consciousness and could not talk. She also could not tell where she was and above all did not know when she managed to get on a motorcycle waiting to whisk her away, including her children, to Obinze, from where they took off. By evening, they were at Obehie in Ukwa West LGA of Abia State.
Mrs. Ordu told Daily Trust that upon arrival at the man’s house, another round of trouble started with her abductor, as he went out supposedly to “buy something” late that evening with her five-year-old son, only to come back to the house without him. She became hysterical, screaming, asking for her son’s whereabouts. When she became louder, the abductor appeared to have caved in and said he would take her where her son was held, but on the way he, and two other accomplices who joined them on the way, attacked the widow, assaulted her with a machete, pushed her into a pit and made away with the children to an unknown destination. The abductors, she said, left her for dead.
Mrs. Ordu said they abandoned her, all bloody from injuries and unconscious. She remained there, in that state, for days and rain would fall on her sometimes, even as intense sunlight would scorch her weakened body. Eventually, a good Samaritan came to the rescue, and drew the attention of the police, who she said rushed her to the hospital where she spent three months before recovery. After recovery, according to her, there was need to trace the suspects.
Mrs. Ordu, still visibly affected by her ordeal, said the main suspect, Raymond, was arrested in January, 2016 at his home. She told Daily Trust that it was as a result of the investigation by the police from Zone 9, Umuahia, that her five-year-old son Chukwudi was rescued from Calabar, capital of Cross River State, where he was taken to after he was sold off to an unidentified buyer.
The distraught mother disclosed that the other two of her children, three-year-old Ozoemena and one-year-old Chinasaokwu are yet to be found, even as she cried to the relevant authorities for help. She disclosed that the abducted children were sold to an unidentified woman at almost a million naira. “Please help me find my children,” Mrs. Ordu pleaded tearfully. (Daily Trust)
