It was a traumatic sight in Ugwu Ogede in Itchi, Igbo-Eze South Local Government Area of Enugu State on Monday when the bodies of three kids who had been reported missing were found in the car parked at the home of a retired police officer.
The victims who were identified as Chibugo Eze, Chinenye Eze, and Ebuka Ene reportedly went missing after they went to the retired police officer’s house to fetch water.
It was also gathered that two other children who were resuscitated rescued claimed three men in hood abducted them, put them in the car, and left.
The parents of the missing children had organized a search party after the kids did not return from the place they went to fetch water at about 8 am on Sunday.
The traditional ruler of the community, HRH, Igwe Ike Oke confirmed the incident. He said he also mobilized vigilantes and Forest Guard groups to join in the search for the missing children.
“We were almost frustrated in our search when a community member who went to fetch water heard the voice of a little child calling her name. She traced the voice to a car that had been parked for over six months in the compound where she discovered the children and raised the alarm,” said the monarch.
“We found three of the children already dead by the time we opened the car. I think they suffocated to death because the car doors were stiffed when we tried to open it at first but we engaged an artisan who forced it open. One of the two children rescued said they went to fetch water but didn’t meet anyone at the borehole because the owner and the entire members of the family had gone to church service,”
“He informed us that they were about going home when three hooded men came from a hill beside the scene of the incident and abducted them into the car and left. He said they were all dressed in red clothes. He also said that the hoodlums returned at the middle of the night to take them away but they couldn’t open the car doors because they were stiffed. We are still investigating,” he said
