Four-year-old boy ‘kidnapped’ at Nkawkaw found at Anyinam

The Anyinam Police in the Eastern Region have found the four-year-old boy 31 hours after he went missing in Nkawkaw, sparking fears that he may have been abducted.

Mansur Mohammed was taken out by an unidentified woman who claimed she had been asked by the mother of the child who was with his siblings, to bring them home shortly after they had closed from school at the Ifradullah Islamic Basic School at Nkawkaw Zongo.

The children told their parents that upon reaching a spot on their way home, the woman took the four-year-old in her arms and asked the rest of the children to go home since she was buying something and would follow them but disappeared with the victim.

The boy was subsequently found by good samaritans at 9:45pm Tuesday evening who saw him alone crying in front of a store at Menskrom Junction, a suburb of Anyinam.

Father of the boy, Alhaji Mohammed Abdul together with a family member, Barikisu Saani were at the Anyinam Police Station to receive their son.

The father was captured in a video kneeling to thank Allah before receiving his son in a warm embrace.

Narrating how the boy was found, one of the good samaritans, Shaibu Zuberu said his attention was drawn to a crying child sitting all alone, by his brother Tuesday evening.

“I met a brother of mine called Muftau Yusif who alerted me that a child in shorts, vest and wearing a footwear on only one foot, was seated on a nearby verandah and crying, drenched in water,” Shaibu said, adding that the boy could not answer any questions posed to him.

He said following unsuccessful attempts to have a nearby information center run announcements on the incident, they informed the Assemblyman for the area who took custody of the child until Wednesday morning when they sent him to the Anyinam Police Station.

Speaking to the press Wednesday morning, the Anyinam District Police Commander, DSP Daniel Wiafe told GhanaWeb that all neighbouring Police Commands to Nkawkaw were put on alert following the disappearance of the boy.

“On Monday, we [police] were informed of a missing child in Nkawkaw, the regional command notified all districts closer to Nkawkaw to be on the alert and by his grace early this morning, one Shaibu Zuberu brought in victim Mansur Mohammed who happened to be a missing child, to the Anyinam District Police station,” said the Commander adding that further investigations with the Nkawkaw police proved that he was the missing child from Nkawkaw.

Asked if the police has been able to extract any information from the victim to aid their investigations into the case, the Commander said, “So far, the child has not been able to say how exactly he ended up at where he was found. He managed to mention his parents name when they showed up.”

According to the Police Commander, an unidentified woman, who was initially suspected to be mother of the child, was seen by the Good Samaritans approaching the scene only for her to ‘disappear’ subsequently as they did not know where she went.

He said the victim would be sent to the hospital for necessary checks after which he would he released to the parents.

The parents of the child subsequently identified him as their missing son.
The victim has been sent to the Holy Family Catholic Hospital in Nkawkaw before he would officially be released to the parents.

DSP Daniel Wiafe said the incident should serve as a wake-up call for all schools with kids and urged for better communication between parents and kids on people they send to pick their wards from school.

For now, the motives for the purported abduction remain unclear as Police investigations continue into the case.