The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has arrested Mrs. Cecelia Ugbaku Onyema, a staff of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Abuja; and Mrs. Bernadette Chinonso Ihezuo, of Federal Ministry of Finance, Abuja, over alleged human trafficking.
NAPTIP said the suspects were arrested in the early hours of Sunday, August 23, when they raided the residence of Mrs. Onyema, located at number 1314 Bridge Street, Sabon Gari, Mararaba, Nasarawa State.
Director-General of NAPTIP, Julie Okah-Donli, who paraded the suspects at the NAPTIP headquarters in Abuja, said that the operatives also rescued a 16-year-old girl from Imo State who just gave birth to a baby boy and her child was sold for N1.5 million to Mrs. Ihezuo.
Okah-Donli explained: “Following the raid, the suspects were arrested while the baby was also rescued and is presently in the facilities of the agency. But further investigations took the operatives to Owerri, the lmo State capital where Mrs. Okasi Ekeoma (Sister to Cecilia) who brought the pregnant girl to Cecilia was arrested.
“Also arrested in Owerri was the mother of the young mother, Mrs. Harrieth Nmezi. Preliminary investigations revealed that the two women masterminded the movement of the girl from Owerri to Mararaba where they made the transaction with the buyer. They also received the money from Mrs. lhezuo. It was learnt that Ekeoma has been in the business of selling babies.
“The suspects have confessed to the crime and will soon be charged to court, as the crime they committed violated various sections of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015.”
She said that her concern was that the illegal child adoption activities have continued to fuel incidences of baby factories across the country because many vulnerable persons now see the act as a means of getting money even at the risk of their lives.
“It encourages organized rape and sexual assault because girls in those baby factories are usually impregnated by hired rapists in most cases. It also leads to increased cases of domestic violence because a greater number of husbands are deceived by their wives. They are made to believe that their wife is pregnant because they are pumped up with steroids which later become major issues of confrontation when it gets exposed,”
she said.
The suspects told journalists at the premises of NAPTIP that they committed the offence.
