A male suspected child thief whose identity is yet to be ascertained was apprehended at a church in Igbo, in Igbo Etche, Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State last Sunday where he went for a mission.
An executive of OSPAC (local vigilance group) in the area who did not want his name in print told our reporter that the congregants were observing the suspect who wore women attire and wig due to the manner in which he was walking inside the church premises.
Our source said a member of the church trailed the suspect to the back of the church unknown to the suspect that someone was watching him.
The source explained that the man removed the women wig on his head to rearrange and wear it back when the church member bursted him and raised alarm which attracted other congregants and passers-by to the scene.
The vigilance group member disclosed that on close observation, the mob observed the suspect was a man and not a woman.
The mob removed the gown the man was wearing and discovered that he wore four female pants and bra, the vigilance group member said.
We gathered that the suspected child thief upon interrogation by the mob reportedly confessed that he and his eight-man gang members were responsible for disappearance of children at Igbo Etche in recent times.
An eyewitness who identified herself as Chiamaka explained that the vigilance group member rescued the suspect from the mob who wanted to lynch him and took him to Police station in the area but was later transferred to Anti-Cultism Police unit headquarters at Rupokwu in Port Harcourt due to the crowd that stormed the station at Umuebule Police station where he was first taken to.
When contacted, the acting spokesperson for the Rivers State Police Command, DSP Grace Iringe Koko, told our reporter that she will get back to him but was yet to do so that press time.
A senior Police officer at Anti-Cultism unit, however confirmed to our reporter that the suspect is in their custody.
Recall that a mysterious woman ‘vanished’ with three siblings while a fifteen-year-old girl on an errand for her parents was kidnapped by unknown persons at Igbo, Igbo Etche last two weeks.
