Rashidah Nagawa alias Saidat Nayebare, is said to be a member of a child trafficking racket operating in the Greater Masaka Region.
The woman said to be a serial child abductor
and trafficker in Lyantonde district has been remanded to Masaka prison.
Rashidah Nagawa alias Saidat
Nayebare, is said to be a member of a child trafficking racket operating in the Greater Masaka Region. She was arrested on August 1, 2021, after
stealing Elisa Wasike, a three-month-old baby, from his mother Annet Nakawuka,
a resident of Kaliiro Ward A, in Lyantonde town council.
Detectives rescued the baby six days
later from Mata zone in Kyazanga town council, Lwengo district after raiding her
hideout. She was produced in Lyantonde Grade
One Magistrate’s Court on Friday afternoon and charges of baby theft and human
trafficking were read to her.
Moses Otim, the presiding Magistrate
did not allow her to take a plea because her case is capital in nature. He, therefore, remanded her to Masaka Prison until August 26, 2021 when more charges
will be read to her.
A source close to the case told us
that they have intelligence information that Nagawa has had a hand in the disappearance
and trafficking of three other children in Lyantonde but there’s no proof to
pin her except for Wasike’s case.
Circumstances under which Nagawa reportedly took
the baby from Nakawuka were well mapped out. She rented a room next to Nakawuka where she stayed
four days before disappearing with the baby.
Nakawuka entrusted Nagawa to soothe
the baby while she attended to the house chores. But Nagawa took advantage of Nakawuka’s
naivety and disappeared with the baby.
At least three people were later arrested in connection to the baby's disappearance
and later released on police bond after Nagawa’s arrest. Nakawuka says that the suspect's prosecution will serve as a lesson to deter others who may wish to follow Nagawa's steps.
According to the police records,
five children have been kidnapped in three years from Lyantonde while two have
been found alive. Two were killed and their bodies dumped in different
locations while one has never been traced.
Davis Buyondo
Freelancer
