Unidentified gunmen on Friday attacked the centre for abandoned children run by the Child Rights Rehabilitation Network (CRARN), a Non-Government Organisation (NGO) in Eket, but no life was lost.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the attackers stormed the centre in a truck and broke into offices and made away with documents and a laptop.

It was gathered that the children, who rushed out to protest the intrusion by ``the strange men’’ were beaten up.

Some of the children, who spoke of their experience in the hands of the attackers, said they were afraid that the men might come back.

``We do not know the faces of these men who were armed; they flogged us and asked us to show them where Uncle Sam stays, so we had to show them the house.They took away our aunties and we have not seen them since then,’’ one of the children added.

Mr. Sam Ikpe-Itauma, the President of CRARN, who spoke to NAN on telephone from his hide out, said the men who claimed to be policemen from Lagos, arrested his wife and other staff on duty, leaving the children without care.

``I was the only one who managed to escape when they were trying to break the door to my house; I sensed danger and had to run for my life. It is not yet clear why anyone will attack, beat up and threaten to shoot these innocent children if they failed to produce me," Itauma said.

When NAN called at the Eket Police Division, the Policemen on duty said they were not aware of the incident.

Efforts to contact the spokesman of the Akwa Ibom Police Command, Mr. Gabriel Ngban, for comments were unsuccessful.

The whereabouts of the abducted staff of CRARN remained unclear as at yesterday morning.