No fewer than 10 suspected human traffickers, including eight females and two males, have been arrested by the Nasarawa State Police Command for allegedly stealing six children from different locations in the country for transactional purposes.
The Commissioner of Police, Umar Nadada, disclosed this in Lafia on Friday while parading 57 suspects arrested for committing various crimes in the state.
According to him, 45 children had been stolen and sold by the 10-member syndicate which charged its clients huge sums of money to sell minors, including boys and girls, to them.
Nadada said, “Recently, police operatives attached to the Keffi division on routine patrol sighted an ongoing mob action and went in to rescue the victim.
“Upon inquiry, it was discovered that the victim, Ismaila Adamu ‘M’ abducted a five-year-old boy at Tsohon Kasuwa, Keffi; he was immediately arrested and taken to a Hospital for treatment while the child was rescued.
“The suspect confessed to being a member of a syndicate that specialised in child theft and selling of same to the highest bidder. Furthermore, the investigation was expanded by the command’s anti-kidnapping unit, and that led to the arrest of the following suspects namely: Hassana Jacob, ‘F’ 30 years; Elishua Idoko, ‘F’ 43 years; Gloria Ene, ‘F’ 38 years; Abdulkarim Abubakar, ‘M’ 52 years; Ramatu Ibrahim, ‘F’ 41 years; Victoria Cosmos, ‘F’ 52 years; Eforma Sunday, ‘F’41 years; Dorcas Ologbo, ‘F’ 50 years, and Sherifat Amuda, ‘F’ 45 years.
“Analysis conducted on the phones of the suspects revealed that 45 children stolen have been sold and illegally adopted by unsuspecting members of the public across the country.”
The CP said the suspects confessed to the theft and sale of so many children at different prices ranging from N350,000 to N1,500,000 depending on their age and gender.
“The suspects further stated that they steal and sell the children by conspiring with social welfare officers of some ministries, where they produce fake documents and sell the children to willing buyers.
“So far, six children have been rescued in Abuja, Ondo, and Lagos states. Efforts are ongoing to arrest more suspects involved in the commission of the crime and recover more of the stolen children.”
