Ogwashi Uku community in the Aniocha South Council Area of Delta State was thrown into confusion over the weekend following the abduction of four children under mysterious circumstances.

The children are six-year-old Ebube Nwafido and her three-year-old sister Miracle, both from the same parents, and two other girls—seven-year-old Chimanda and five-year-old Excel, alias Tinubu, also from different parents.

Reports from the area say residents of Umuokwe Quarters, where the crime occurred, are pointing accusing fingers at three women who had secured emergency accommodation in the neighborhood last Monday.

Nigerian Tribune learned that the women allegedly lured the children on Friday, pretending to buy them biscuits from a popular supermarket in the community.

The women had earlier approached Mrs. Bose Nwafido, asking if she could help them find a one-room accommodation.

Mrs. Nwafido lamented:

“It was last Monday when the three women came asking me for a house to rent. I pointed them in a direction, but moments later, one of them came back and said she drank Pepsi and zobo and that she was having a running stomach; she asked to use our toilet.

“I took the lady to the back of our house where she defecated in a bush. Afterwards, she told me she was going to withdraw money from a POS to pay for the accommodation.

“The lady later came back when I left for the market and took my 10-year-old son, Ifechukwude, to see their house. That’s when they started showing kindness to the children. Unbeknownst to many, they had evil plans.”

According to her, she left the children on Friday morning for a program, instructing them to play within the compound as usual.

“At about 12 noon, some children came back to say the aunty wanted to buy biscuits for them. That’s how my children went to the house when I wasn’t around.”

Nigerian Tribune further gathered that when the children and the other two could not be found around the compound after some time, neighbors grew concerned. When they visited the women’s apartment, neither the occupants nor the children could be found; the room was empty.

The father of Ebube and Miracle, Kingsley Nwafido, and his wife, who are both heavily traumatized, expressed shock over the sudden disappearance of their children.

The state police public relations officer, SP Bright Edafe, confirmed the story, adding that investigations are ongoing. (Sunday Tribune: Text, Excluding Headline)