CHILD-WITCHES? with 2-day-old twins,
• Accused says children are witches and wizards brought to her for healing
By CHIDI NNADI, Enugu
The police at Zone 9 headquarters in Umuahia, Abia State, have arrested two suspected human traffickers and their accomplices with one of them caught with two-day-old twin babies who still had their umbilical cords attached.

The other suspect was nabbed with 37 children believed by the police to be sold for rituals, but the suspect, Rev. Dr. (Mrs.) Joy Ugwueze, said the kids were witches and wizards brought to her church for healings.

Parading the suspects on Thursday at the Zone 9 Command headquarters, Umuahia, the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Yakubu Muhammad, said police detectives from the zonal criminal investigation department, led by a woman ASP, Eno Don-Pedro attached to the anti-human trafficking section had in the early hours of October 24 arrested one Mr Silas Osuoluka Okoye, a blind man from Umuoji in Idemili North LGA of Anambra State and Nyeneme Oku, with the new born twins along Umuahia, Ikot Ekpene Road, Umuahia.

“On interrogation, the duo confessed to have brought the twin babies from one Mrs. Grace James of Ikot Ntien Nsit, Uyo in Akwa Ibom State,” the DIG said, adding that the suspects had claimed that Mrs. James runs a maternity home.

But Muhammad countered that Okoye and his partner, Oku, have long been involved in human trafficking business, using Umuoji village in Idemili North of Anambra State as a base.
According to him, “from this small town, the duo sell these children to their prospective buyers within and across the country at prices ranging from N70, 000 for girl-child and N150, 000 for male child.”

The DIG also said that ASP Don-Pedro and her team of detectives, acting on a tip-off had stormed Peace Sisters Outreach Ministries at Number 20, Adaelu Street, Osisioma, Aba in Abia State, where 37 children whose ages ranged from one to fourteen years were discovered.
Owner of the ministry, Rev. (Dr) Joy Ugwueze, told Saturday Sun at the Zone 9 headquarters that she was not trafficking in human beings, but was delivering the children brought to her as witches and wizards.

“They are all witches and wizards. You can ask them. They brought them for healing. I got them from the crusade ground from their parents who brought them because they are all witches and wizards,” Rev. Ugwueze argued, adding that the children are even up to 70.
According to her, she keeps the children for a maximum of three months during which period they are delivered from the evil and made to go home.
But some of the children who spoke to Saturday Sun said some of them have stayed in Peace Sisters Ministry for over one year.

However, that was the much they could say as all of them appeared to have been brainwashed into believing that they were in Peace Sisters Outreach for good as all of them now bear new names with Peace Sisters as their surnames.

But the police believed that Rev. Ugwueze had adopted the children to make money as they claimed that she used some of them as maids while she sent others to beg for her on the streets.
But Ugwueze said all she did with the children was with the consent of their parents or their relations who brought them to be cured from witchcraft.

She said she never sent the children out for begging, rather they were sent out for evangelism and all they got during the outing, they used for the upkeep of the children which included sending some of them to school.

When asked why she had only children in her custody as witches and wizards, she said that parents who are also witches and wizards after bringing their children to her would run away.
Her words: “Some of them brought their children and ran away. Some parents don’t even agree that they are witches and wizards but when you ask the children they will tell you that ‘my mother gave it to me and from there I killed my sister.’ They are all blood sucking children. They have killed their parents, killed their mothers and scattered their homes, ask them.”

Rev. Ugwueze who claimed that her spiritual power was from above said the children would have attacked her if not for her powers.
Speaking with Saturday Sun, one of the children, who identified herself as Grace Peace Sisters but whose original name is Precious Akpan Bassey, said she was a witch before Rev. Ugwueze delivered her on Easter Monday in 2006.

“I did not want to kill my mother and father because they are too good to me. I am a witch and I confessed and they took me to Peace Sisters. I did not kill people,” the 14-year-old said.
On whether they were used as maids and sent out to beg for Rev. Ugwueze, Precious said: “We used to go for evangelism, we used to go to serve as maids so that we could become somebody in future.

I stayed one year with Mrs Ginika Peters at Ngwa Road. I returned to the ministry because of our programme. I went to the house of my madam to become somebody.”
In a chat with Saturday Sun, Silas Okoye admitted stealing the twin babies from Akwa Ibom for onward transfer to Ihiala, Anambra State.

His words: “The case is about one girl from my place who is attending a school at Obosi. The girl went there and somebody from Ihiala needed a child and we took her to the place. So, we got there and took the twins. You know that I don’t see, but the place looked like a maternity. One woman from Ihiala, Mrs Ezimora, who owns a maternity also at Ihiala, said somebody’s wife gave birth in her maternity and the baby died and she wanted to replace it for the man.”

He continued: “When we got there, it was only N70,000 that the man brought. The girl collected the N70,000 and the man promised that if we got back he would give me some money. This is the second time I am doing this business.”

Meanwhile, the stolen two-day old twins are being taken care of at the Daughters of Mary, Mother of Mercy Compassion Home for Orphans and Abandoned Children in Umuahia, pending when the police will conclude their investigations.