Jamila Shagari,16, has told how she was kidnapped in company with three others four -years -ago from Niger State and sold into slavery in Delta State.
Shagari who narrated her ordeals to the operatives at Delta State Police Command, Asaba, said she was 12 when she was abducted alongside her playmates and sold to different persons.
She told the police that on a faithful day, while she was playing with her friends; a child trafficking syndicate who were in care seized them and took them to Delta State:” I was sold to Madam Gloria Ugbebor, of house number 15 Kingdom Hall Umunede community, and she changes my name to Dorcas Peter and warned not to bear my real name. I was taken to Lagos where I was handed over to a man, Azubuike, who I serve as a house help for two years. He was maltreating me and after much suffering in Azubuike’s house, I have to return to Mrs. Ugbebor in Umunede who later handed me over to Mrs. Vera Olunwa. The 62 -years -old, lives opposite Koka junction Asaba-Ibusa expressway Asaba. I have been going through hell”.
Delta State Police Public Relations Officer PPRO DSP Bright Edafe, who gave a graphic account on how Shagari was rescued, said,” about 13.20 pm, the sequel to the unrelenting manhunt for child traffickers, intelligence at the Command disposals revealed that a girl was seen roaming around church premises in Asaba, which attracted some good Nigerians who suspected that all was not well with her made a distress call to the police.
“Commander Eagle Net Special Squad, detailed operatives to the scene, and the child was brought to the station. A preliminary investigation later revealed that she was kidnapped along with three other kids by yet to be identified men with a car while they were playing in their village surroundings in Niger State. The victim Jamila Shagari,16, also narrated that she was twelve years old when she was kidnapped and brought to one Mrs. Ugbebor. Two suspects Mrs. Gloria Ugbebor,39, and Mrs. Vera Olunwa,62 were arrested while two other children Nuhu Yohanna,12, and Abednego Joshua, 11, were in the custody of Mrs. Gloria Ugbebor, were also rescued. The effort is to locate the biological parents of the said victim. The investigation is ongoing with a view to arresting other accomplices”.
In another development, Edafe said that a suspect phone thief was also arrested by policemen attached to Safer Highway Patrol who were on stop and search duty along Warri-Sapele road. He said the suspect was arrested in a vehicle belonging to Amusa transport company bus, adding that the police recovered 20 exotic phones, three Laptops suspected to have been stolen, and one charm believed to be bulletproof. The suspect Bernard Aloba,26, was arrested, the investigation is ongoing
“Similarly, the Commander Safer High Way Patrol, SP Joseph Onubi, in compliance with CP’s directive on the deployment on patrol teams to engage in rigorous stop and search along the highways, detailed some patrol teams to Ughelli-Patani road, while they were on stop and search duty along the Ughelli-Patani road, intercepted a commercial vehicle and asked all passengers to get down for search, while the search was ongoing, one of the passengers whose name and address are unknown suddenly jumped into the bush and escaped. When the police searched his luggage, 24, android phones of different makes were recovered from his bag. “However, one of his gang members Iliyasu Hamzat, who kept calling the suspect phone to find out what is delaying the delivery of the stolen phones, was tactically lured and arrested by the police. A manhunt for the fleeing suspect is ongoing.
“Commissioner of police Delta state Command, CP Ari Muhammed Ali, has urged members of the public, particularly travelers, to always exercise patience with the police while they are performing their duties especially during stop and search as it is for the good for all passengers on board, and Deltans in general, as its one of the proactive measures taken to nip crime in the bud. He assured residents of the states that extortion of any kind by officers and men of Delta state will not be tolerated, members of the public are enjoined to give credible and timely information to the police when the need arises*.
