By MORGAN ADDERLEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

madderley@tribunemedia.net

“IT’S a job well done,” National Security Minister Marvin Dames said of the police force’s arrest of two women in relation to a spate of child abduction incidents that tormented New Providence for weeks.

Mr Dames made these comments on the sidelines of a loan signing ceremony yesterday, where he congratulated the police and public for a job well done. He also praised the young children who assisted the police in the investigation by providing details for a composite sketch.

New Providence residents were terrorised by the string of abductions primarily targeting young boys that began February 16.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force announced on Sunday that one suspect was arrested on Saturday night in the eastern district of New Providence. She is a 29-year-old woman who police suspect is allegedly responsible for four of the abductions. The second suspect is 35-years-old and is believed to have been an accomplice in one of the abductions. She was arrested in Eleuthera.

When asked for a response to these arrests, Mr Dames told reporters: “It’s a job well done. I have the utmost confidence in the commissioner of police and his team and if you can recall, outside of Parliament last week I said the police were closing in on this matter.

“This is a clear example of where we’re trying to take the (RBPF) and all of our law enforcement agencies, that we have the confidence in the men and women in these agencies to do their jobs and to do it well. And you’re seeing that.

“And kudos goes out to the members of the (RBPF) as well as all of those persons who would have assisted some way, including the community, in bringing this matter to a head.

“I mean when you look at these young kids who were able to sit with the police and give the police a good visual of who this individual is and the police were able to capture that in composite, it’s amazing. And it speaks to the resilience of these young children and I’m so proud of them that they were able to do that.

“But yes, we’re grateful...  let’s just see where the investigation goes.”

On Sunday, police noted they suspect the individuals in custody can help their investigations into all but two of the abductions — one of which was a domestic matter and has since been closed. The other, involving a young girl in Culmersville, is still under investigation. Mr Dames declined to comment on that matter.

According to police, on March 29, shortly after 9pm, eight-year-old Sachin Henry was lured from his home on Fox Hill Road south into a silver-coloured car and later dropped off near the New Providence Landfill. Officers noted the woman also tried to lure a 10-year-old boy as well, but the second child walked away.

On March 7, shortly before 4pm, three boys were taken: two eight-year-olds and a ten-year-old. The boys were walking on Kool Acres Road in eastern New Providence when “they were picked up by a female who was the lone occupant” of a dark coloured vehicle, police said.

The two eight-year-olds were initially dropped off by a Haitian village in the vicinity of Seabreeze and Joe Farrington Road.

The ten-year-old was dropped off later by the city dump.

The day before, March 6, eight-year-old Tyvon Deveaux was abducted by a lone female driver in a silver-coloured Japanese-model vehicle. He was later dropped off by the entrance to the dump on Tonique Williams Darling Highway.

On February 16, three-year-old Shavar Bain was abducted from outside his home and then left frightened and alone outside a Fox Hill washhouse several hours later, sparking a manhunt for two women believed to be the abductors.

On March 3, an eight-year-old girl was abducted from her home by an alleged male perpetrator. She was discovered walking in the area of Woodlawn Gardens a short time after the abduction by a passer-by and taken to the Wulff Road Police Station.

Police are still investigating that matter.