Tony John, Port Harcourt
A Port Harcourt Chief Magistrate Court’s has remanded a 32-year-old man in prison custody for allegedly stealing a two-year-old baby girl, daughter of his neighbour.
The accused person, Promise Okere, faced two-count charges in suit number PMC/1517c/2018, and was said to have committed crime on June 29, this year, at Okujagu village, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Count one read: “That you, Promise Okere, on the 29th day of June, 2018, at Okujagu village, Port Harcourt, in the Port Harcourt Magisterial District, did conspire with others now at large, to commit felony to wit: child stealing and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 516 of the Criminal Code, Cap 37, Vol. II, Laws of Rivers State of Nigeria, 1999.
“That you, Promise Okere, and others now at large, on the same date and place in the aforesaid Magisterial District, did take away one Happiness Ozor, a girl of two years old, from the custody and against the will of the parents Mr. and Mrs. Ozor, and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 27 (2) (b) (c) of the Child Rights Act, Cap 50 LFN 2003″.
The accused was not granted bail on arraignment, but the trial Chief Magistrate, Felicitas Amanze, directed that the case file should be remitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for legal advice.
Earlier, seven years elder brother of the stolen baby told the court that on the said the day, the accused, who also resides in the same compound, came to their apartment when their mother was away for her daily business.
Narrating further, the boy said: “The brother (suspect) told us to open the door, that, it is not good that we are locked inside.
“When he later opened the door, he gave me money to go and buy biscuit while he takes care of my sister and her twin brother. But, when I came back, I did not see my sister and the brother (suspect) again.
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“I ran out and reported to the barber in front of our house that my sister is missing and that the brother (suspect) came to our house and carried her”, the seven years old boy recalled.
Neighbours in the area also alleged seeing the accused person with a strange man in restaurant in the neighbourhood.
One of the neighbours told the police at the Trans-Amadi Police Station and State Criminal Investigative and Intelligence Department (SCIID), that when he confronted the accused on his relationship with the strange man he saw with him eating at the restaurant, he (suspect) denied knowing the man.
Meanwhile, Amanze refused denied the accused bail and ordered for his remand in the prison custody. The matter was adjourned till August 15, for hearing.