A herbalist, Emmanuel Akpan Okon, has been arrested by the police from the Cross River State Command for allegedly abducting two young girls and keeping them as his sex slaves for four years.
The two girls identified as Esther Wisdom and Felicia Destiny who are bothe aged 11, were abducted by Okon when they were seven years old and since then, he has kept them in his custody and has been having regular sex with them almost everyday.
The 42-year-old Okon who is from Akwa Ibom State, was arrested following a tip-off on his involvement in preparing charms for armed robbers, reportedly stole the kids from their parents home in Onistha, Anambra State and Auchi, Edo State.
According to the Commissioner of Police in the state, Henry Fadairo, the parents of the kids may have given up hopes of ever getting back alive until his men rescued them.
“On November 16, 2015, we raided one Emmanuel Akpan’s home in Akamkpa, in the Akamkpa Local Government Area of Cross River State, based on a tip-off.
We gathered he was into the preparation of charms for armed robbers and treatment of criminals with bullet wounds.
During the raid, we saw two little girls in his house. One is Esther Wisdom and the other, Felicia Destiny. They are both 11 years. On enquiry, we found out that they were abducted four years ago. Wisdom was stolen from Onitsha while Destiny was stolen from Auchi.
We are making efforts to see how we can locate their parents. The victims claimed that he had been having regular sex with them.”
One of the girls, Destiny, said she was in primary four when she was abducted, adding that the herbalist had raped her many times.
“I was in primary four when he took me away from my home. I remember that my mother lost her sister and when she was going for the burial, she told the man, who was a commercial motorcycle rider, to bring me to her village.
That was how I found myself living with him. I used to tell him that I did not like sex, but he continued.”
The other girl said: “He has been having sex with us regularly. He gives us food to eat and promises that one day he will take us back to our mothers.”
The herbalist turned kidnapper, however, said he abducted the girls because their parents were too poor to take care of them.
“While staying in the same compound with Wisdom’s mother at Onitsha, I observed that she had problems bringing up her nine children.
This girl, Wisdom, was always with me when I was staying in their compound. So, when I wanted to leave Onitsha, I took her with me without telling her mother.
When I left Onitsha with her, I went to Auchi, and was riding a commercial motorcycle as a means of livelihood. Where I stayed in Auchi, Destiny was always coming to play with Esther. I also noticed that Destiny’s mother had many children. So, when I wanted to leave the town, I took her along.
I had sex with them and I know it is bad in the sight of God. I have a girl child who is with the mother. I will not be happy if she is treated this way.”