The 15 kids of Abayi International School, Aba, who were kidnapped on Monday regained their freedom on the early hours of Friday morning after a military task force stormed the hideout of their abductors to flush them out.
The children were later taken to the state government house in a military bus belonging to the task force, "'Operation Restore Hope" They were still in the school uniform they wore when they were kidnapped five days ago.
State governor Theodore Orji told the leader of the military force, Johnson A. O Ochaga, a brigadier, that he was happy to receive the 15 kids who have been subjected to untold ordeal alive and in good shape . He said they would be given appropriate medical attention.
The children were rescued by the Force at Ngwaiyiekwe, a community where the kidnappers had taken them to after they were abducted
on their way to school. The Force on Thusday stormed Ugwati and Ogwe primary schools, both in Ukwa west local government, which the kidnappers had converted to their camp for their nefarious activities. The kidnappers had sacked the people of the communities, who abandoned their houses which the hoodlums then occupy to keep their victims..
Mr Ochaga said the force's next task is to work to encourage the fleeing residents to return to their homes.
He said his force were in the state to assist the police, stressing that the operation was continuous exercise that will continue until the kidnappers were flushed out.
‘My day is made," Mr Orji said. "I was wondering how I would have been standing at the podium in the stadium taking the anniversary salute when my children were under the kidnappers custody.'
He who thanked the president, Goodluck Jonathan and the chief of Army Staff for sending the military on the rescue mission to Abia state to effect the release of the kids. He also said his wife had already cancelled the children's party that would have been part of the golden jubilee celebration.
He said the kidnappers were not human beings and must receive the reward of their evil act in this world.
"God will surely visit them with evil for keeping this children in the bush and denying the warmth of their homes and parental care."
Mr Orji warned the criminals to leave the state as there is no more hiding place for them to operate, even as he warned those sponsoring them that their names were being compiled and that they must at the appropriate time face the wrath of the law. He revealed that the abandoned Army barracks at Ohafia have been reactivated and taken over again by soldiers . He also said the state government has prepared Asa High School, in the centre of the kidnapping prone areas, as a camp for soldiers.
Big relief
Commending the presence of the military, he said they have made the difference in the long battle against kidnapping in the state and promised that the state would sustain the peace and appealed to those that had fled Aba and the environ to return and continue their life.
The Proprietor of the school, Chidi Ikonne, a professor of English at the University of Port Harcourt, said the rescue of the pupils was a very big relief as he had been under trauma since the hostage drama started. "We thank all those who made their release possible," he said.
Mr Ikonne said he established the school to help the poor, stating that about 40 % of the population of the school are on scholarship as part of his desire effort help the poor.
One of the parents of the kids, who said four of her children were among those rescued, thanked God for an end to her nightmares. "The five days have been hell on earth," she said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The children who looked frail, worn out and unkempt, drew tears from the eyes of many people who came to the government house to see them
