Kidnapped 7-year old class 5 pupil released on ransom

By Njodzefe Nestor
Inhabitants of Kumbo in Bui division of the North West region are yet to come to terms with a spree of kidnappings that have rocked that town over the years. The recent is that of  a 7 year old girl, Glenda Solii Berinyuy. The class five pupil of Presbyterian School, PS Mbveh was kidnapped on March 16 and only released 5 days after when her parents paid a heavy ransom to the kidnappers.
    According to the child who narrated the ordeal after her release, the incident happened some 100 meters away from their house in Romajaay between 2:30 to 3pm that fateful day when she was returning from school but was unfortunately whisked away by unidentified men armed with knives who threatened to kill her if she screams. She was later taken to an unknown destination where she was kept in a dark room for over five days.
    It was after waiting to no avail for the child that her father immediately decided to start searching for her. According to a close family source who sought anonymity, at the onset the idea of the child being kidnapped was far-fetched until after the third day when the mother of the child who is the private secretary to the Mayor of Kumbo council received an anonymous call asking her to provide FCFA 15 million or else they will kill the child.

    When the matter was reported to the police, the kidnappers who apparently were monitoring every move of the family warned them not to involve the police or else they will kill the child. For fear of the child’s life, the parents negotiated with the kidnappers and ended up paying about a million frs FCFA before the child was released on the fifth day of the drama.
    This is not the first time such a thing is happening in kumbo. Reports have it that some years back in the same PS Mbveh, the Headmaster was kidnapped and only released after Christians of Presbyterian Church Mbveh raised some money and channeled it to the kidnappers.
    Also one Maurice Viban’s child was kidnapped in the field of Government School Bamkika’ai by three persons and the kidnappers got in contact with him through a phone call, asking for a ransom of 5MFCFA. He negotiated with the kidnappers through phone contact and paid a sum of 300000 FCFA to the kidnappers in a spot they had directed him to put the money before his son was released.
    In May 2010 Francisco Bushu a five year old child of catholic school Tobin in Kumbo was kidnapped during school hours and was on the same day intercepted at Babessi following intervention by the company commander of Bui Major Samuel Nyemeck and the Rapid Intervention Battalion of Kumbo.
    Such instances of kidnap and other forms of insecurity abound in Kumbo but the question that remains on every lip is what the security forces are doing to bring the kidnappers to book. Many of the victims who spoke to The Median on condition of anonymity have bemoaned the care-free attitude of these security agents when cases are reported to them.