‘How Nigerian social media users help trace my missing child’

Father of an 18-month-old baby, Mr. Ekpedeme Robinson, on Friday recalled how the effective use of social media helped him track the nanny who stole his child that was left in her custody.
Robinson

’s little boy, David, was abducted in his Satellite Town residence in Calabar, Cross River State, by his 18-year-old nanny, Covenant Bassey, on May 13. But by divine intervention through the effective use of the social media, specifically Facebook, the fleeing nanny was nabbed with the abducted David at Eleme in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on May 16. 

The boy’s father had gone to pick up his other two children from school but on getting back home, he observed that his nanny and the third child were nowhere to be found. Although he had immediately reported the incident at the Airport Police Station along the IBB Way in Calabar, Robinson, in collaboration with friends and members of his church, had posted the pictures of the missing child and that of the nanny on Facebook informing users of the development. Narrating his three-day ordeal before his son was rescued, Robinson said after reporting the matter to the police, his Dominion City Church members immediately posted the pictures and his contact numbers on the social media. He noted that the first person to contact him on phone concerning the whereabouts of the missing child was from a lady in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, who said she boarded the same vehicle with the nanny and the little boy from Calabar. “We flooded the social media with information concerning the nanny and my child. A lady called from Eket on Saturday to tell us that they boarded the same vehicle from Calabar. She said she saw the information on facebook after she had alighted from the taxi. “The lady had said that while in the taxi, the passengers were admiring the baby because of his very light complexion in contrast with the dark nanny. Nobody suspected that the nanny had stolen the boy because she claimed that the father was light skinned. “We immediately proceeded to Eket. We went to the police in Eket and the search continued. While there, we got another call from a guy in Port Harcourt who said he had just seen the nanny and my little boy. He also said he saw the information on the social media and recognised the nanny and the boy. “We asked him to keep staying close to her while we mobilised some of our church members and friends in Port Harcourt to immediately find their way towards the trailer park in Eleme and by the time they got there, the caller had grabbed the nanny.” Punch adds that while commending members of his church and the police for their swift intervention, Robinson noted that the social media has huge advantages when used positively. Little David had since been released to his parents while the nanny is still in the custody of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Cross River State Police Command in Calabar..