■ Release my child, mother pleads
By ANDERLINE ALAOMA
the past 11 days have been pure psychological torture for four-year-old Rebecca Idowu, whose younger sister, Christiana, a two-year-old toddler, was stolen by a woman close to their home in the Mazamaza area of Lagos.
Though young Rebecca may not fully express her pain in words, her taciturn and withdrawn attitude since the unfortunate incident happened speak volumes and portray the depth of her agony since her baby sister was snatched by the wicked hands of the Jezebelic woman who smacked her, warning her not to scream as she pulled Christiana out of the grasp of her elder, whose hand she was holding as they happily walked home after a great learning day at the nearby school, where they attended holiday lesson.
“I want to see my sister. I want to play with her. It was that auntie that beat me and took her. That auntie is wicked,” Rebecca said, tears streaming down her face.
Her equally traumatised mother, Saidat Idowu, a woman in her 30s has been practically walking up the wall with anxiety, unsure of what has become of her adorable daughter, Christiana, since she was stolen on August 24, 2016 at 10am.
As her older daughter, Rebecca, narrated to her what happened on the fateful day, Saidat said that the two young girls were going for holiday lesson, when a woman slapped her and took her and warned her not to scream ‘Ole’ (thief). The woman simply walked away leaving Rebecca teary and dumbfounded. As if the woman cast a spell on the two children, even the stolen child did not scream, as children would normally do when accosted by a stranger.
When she spoke with Sunday Sun, Saidat disclosed that she had made the rounds of going to Lagos Televison (LTV 8) and the radio stations to report the incident and plead with people to watch out for the stolen child. She had also been to the police station at Amuwo Odofin to file an incident report.
Her words: “I have also been going to churches for prayers and support. I have become ill in the past days since this incident happened and I pray that the Almighty God will bring my baby back, safe and sound.”
As he made a manly effort to hold down tears, father of the stolen child, Wale Idowu, revealed that the family did not know what had happened until when the school closed and one of the teachers notified the parents that Christiana did not attend the lesson that day.
Saidat’s anxiety is driven by the knowledge that people who abduct very young innocent children usually smuggle them across the border at Seme, where they sell them.
Prior to the incident, Saidat said that she had been concerned about the fact that the teacher was not marking Christiana’s homework, and neither were the corrections noted. On that fateful day, she had planned to escort the children to the school and also complain to the teacher about her observation regarding her daughter’s work. For a reason she could not fathom, she changed her mind. In the wake of the abduction, Saidat has expectedly been filled with regret.