Anambra State Police Command has rescued eight children trafficked from various parts of the country particularly from the South East and South-South geopolitical zones.
Police Public Relations Officer in the state, SP Haruna Mohammed, in a statement, said that the children including a 15-year-old pregnant girl were also trafficked by a 5-man syndicate. He said that the kingpin of the suspects who were already in the police net usually sold the children at varying prices depending on their ages.
The statement partly reads: “On September 13, following intelligence report, police detectives attached to Onisha Area Command in collaboration with the Command State intelligence Bureau (SIB) arrested five members of a child stealing/trafficking syndicate as follows: “Mrs Joy (surname withheld by us) 40, of house number 138 Urata area Aba, Abia State; Janet, 22 ,of 12 Irete Street Owerri, Imo State; Gideon ,26 , of Port Harcourt in River State; Wisdom,26 , of Chokosho village Port Harcourt, Rivers State and Chukwudimma ,29 years of 138 Urata area Aba, Abia State.
” The suspects specialised in child snatching, child stealing and trafficking from different parts of the country especially South East and South-South geopolitical zones. Preliminary investigation revealed that the children (five boys and three girls) were stolen from Rivers, Bayelsa, Imo, Abia and Anambra states both at gun points and through stealing after which they were sold to the kingpin in Abia State.
“Consequently, upon interrogation, the suspects voluntarily confessed that they usually steal the children and bring to their sponsor one Mrs. Joy ‘f’ of Urata in Abia State who allegedly buys the children at the rate of between N200,000 to N400,000 depending on their age and gender.
“Further investigation also revealed that in addition to child stealing and trafficking, the same sponsor, Mrs. Joy also lure underage girls into having pregnancy after which she would buy the children from them immediately after delivery.
“So far, eight children of various age brackets were rescued from the syndicates including a year and half old baby recently snatched from the parent at gunpoint in Orlu, Imo State as well as a 15-year-old pregnant girl. The investigation is still ongoing after which all the suspects would be brought to book.
