By Nsan Ndoma-Neji, Calabar
The former member of the House of Representatives, representing Oron federal constituency between 2007 and 2011, Hon. Robinson Uwak, has been accused by his enstranged wife, Mrs. Kazie, of using thugs and soldiers to abduct one year old twins babies in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.
The twins babies, who are about one year old, were said to have been forcefully taken away from Kazie’s parent’s home, along Victory Way, Satellite Town, Calabar on Sunday and thrown into a stationary hilux vehicle which he parked outside, after using soldiers and thugs to intimidate family members of the twins’ mother.
An eye-witness, Stella, surname witheld, who claimed to live in the neighborhood stated that soldiers allegedly stormed the victims’ compound in five vehicles, over powered almost every one who lives in the household, abducted the twin babies, who were spending time in their grandparents home and zoomed off to an unknown destination.
The victims are grand children of a director with the Cross River State Ministry of Information and Orientation in the Cross River State civil service, Mrs. Rose Irek.
Narrating the incident to newsmen yesterday at the Ernest Etim Bassey Press Centre Calabar, Mrs. Irek stated, “As we drove out of the gate and about to go to church, two men blocked our vehicle. They came with a Prado jeep.
“My husband and I suspected that they were lodged in a nearby hotel for some days before storming our home for the babies, who are my grandchildren.
“One of the soldiers, who wore mask, asked me to come back home, but while this was going on, another set of masked soldiers were at our home.”
Also speaking on the issue, the mother of the abducted babies, who is an enstranged wife to the former member of the House of Repsentatives, and Ireks daughter, Mrs. Kezia Robinson Awak, called on the law enforcement agents, civil society organizations, CSOs, and human rights activists to come to her aide, crying that she has faced serious intimidation and threat to her life from her enstranged husband, Robinson.
She claimed that this situation made quit the marriage, so that she doesn’t get killed by Robinson, who in the last two years virtually turned her into a punching bag.
While emphasing that her former husband had intimidated her on several occasions, after giving her serious beatings, she added, “He use to tell me ‘I will kill you and nothing would happen. After all I can always used my money to cover it up’.”
Kezia called on well meaning Nigerians and human rights activists to come to her aide as the matter is even bigger than what her parents could handle.
She said, “He stormed my parents’ home in the mist of thugs and some soldiers, who overpowered us and fled away with my one year old twin babies, promising me that I would never see those babies again.
“At about 8:57am, someone knocked on our door and my younger sister went to check who knocked the door. Incidentally the door was violently pushed open.
“Suddenly, masked armed men in military uniform led by Mr. Robinson abducted the twins babies and took them away.
“We heard him direct the army to take the children and then promised that he was going to deal with us.
“He violently flung the children into a waiting Hilux and then they drove away with the children.
“I am terrified that he may harm me and my parents. I know him; he can go to any extent to achieve whatever he so desires.
“He had in several occasions threatened to kill me each time gives me beating. How could a man in his right senses storm his in-law’s house with gun-totting men to abduct his own babies from his in-law’s home?”
Reacting to the allegation, Army Public Relations Officer, PRO, in Cross River State, Captain Dorcas Aluko, stated that the army is not aware of any babies’ abduction.
She told CompassNG, “I have tried to make calls, but we seem not to know about the story. Sorry, I’m in a meeting.”
Effort to get the reaction of the former lawmaker, Uwak, failed woefully, as calls put across to get his side of the story were turned down, as he didn’t pick his calls.
Text message sent to Hon. Uwak were also not replied.
Reacting to the issue, the Director, Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, stated that he has interface with the 13 Brigade, the Nigerian Army formation that covers Calabar, stressing that the Brigade does not have any deployment in Satellite Town.
He said, “Neither did it deploy or attach soldiers to any civilian. It is not in the purview of the Nigerian Army to intervene in such domestic issues.
“I am not certain the persons you saw are soldiers of the Nigeria Army. More information may be required to fully ascertain who they are.”
