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Nigeria: Children Protest Kidnap of Toddlers
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This Day (Lagos)
12 May 2008
Posted to the web 12 May 2008
Ahamefula Ogbu
Port Harcourt
Children numbering over 360 yesterday stormed the Government House, Port Harcourt to protest the incessant kidnapping of toddlers by hoodlums who demand for ransom before their release.
This is as the abductors of Mrs. Fidelia Chioma, mother of the Rivers State Majority Leader, Hon Golden Chioma have contacted his family members and demanded for his resignation before they would release the teacher. Mrs. Chioma was kidnapped Friday from the Universal Basic Education Primary School, Oromineke, D-Line, Port Harcourt when six armed men stormed the school and pretended to have come for inquiries before taking the woman away.
The abductors of Mrs. Fedelia Chioma, mother of the Leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Golden Ngozi Chioma, have demanded his resignation as a condition for the release of his mother. The placard carrying children protested that they have become merchandise for the unscrupulous which put their future in jeopardy as they now live in fear and may not be able to attain their full potential when in the present restricted environment they have been forced to exist.Speaking to newsmen, leader of the children, Miss Precious Obasi said they had to come to appeal to the government to do something about the ugly trend which has refused to abate.
According to her, a situation where there are no jobs for the teeming youths drive most of them into crime while young girls drop out of school for prostitution and the situation has become so bad that they now kidnap innocent children which she insisted was wrong.
"We are appealing to the governor to put an end to kidnapping, that he should provide schools and job opportunities for the dropouts. He should provide job opportunities for graduates that don't have jobs.
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"He should also put an end to prostitution, some children now drop out of school and go for prostitution. He should also put an end to child abuse. What did a three month old baby do wrong to be kidnapped? Why will kidnappers not leave innocent children alone", she wondered. Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Magnus Abe assured them that the government was doing everything to ensure that the nefarious activities of the hoodlums were put in check.
He apologized to the children for the state of affairs saying that in their days they were not subjected to such inhumanities, adding, "I want to say, on behalf of all of us who are older than you that we are sorry that we have put you in this situation and God will help to put a stop to it"
Already, he said they have mobilized the necessary machinery to ensure that a final stop to the menace was achieved and assured that it would not longer be business as usual for the kidnappers. Hon Chioma was in Australia for a capacity building workshop when the incident occurred and was said to have expressed surprise that people were taking politics to the home front by kidnapping an innocent woman.The Majority Leader of the House represents Etche constituency II was said to have kept mum on whether he would step down for his mother"s freedom but denied that there was a fight among them during the trip.
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