Ogbonnaya Ikokwu The Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has called on parents to always take care of their children, and prioritise their safety and well-being, stressing that there is nothing they are doing that is more important than their parental obligation to their children. He stated this while receiving three boys, Gideon, aged 8; Divine, 6; and Israel, 4, of the same parents, who were kidnapped while returning home from school on May 10, 2024, but later rescued from their abductors. Receiving the children alongside their parents and other community leaders at his residence in Umuehim, Nvosi, in the Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of the state, Otti thanked God and those who worked hard to ensure the children’s release.
Expressing the joy that the children were finally reunited with their parents, the governor used the opportunity to advise parents to be more careful about the safety and security of their children. He said, “I will like to also admonish parents to be more careful because this was avoidable. First of all, you should not hand over your children to people you do not know, be they keke or okada riders.
There is nothing you’re doing that is more important than looking after your children. That is my word to parents, grandparents and everybody, who has something to do with one Abia child or another. “It is very, very important that we take their security, comfort and safety very seriously.
A lot of lessons have been learnt from this, and I belie.