Saturday, February 17, 2024 -The Nasarawa State Police Command has paraded 12 members of a child trafficking syndicate arrested in the state.
The suspected child traffickers who are linked to the theft and sale of forty-five children were among the suspects paraded on Friday, February 16, 2024, at the Police Command Headquarters in Lafia for various crimes in the state.
Briefing newsmen, the State Commissioner of
Police, CP Shehu Umar Nadada, said a total of 57 suspects were arrested by the
command from January 01 to date.
CP Nadada gives the breakdown of the suspects
to include 3 suspected kidnappers, 3 armed robbery suspects and twenty
suspected fraudsters.
Others are suspects arrested in different
locations in the state for rape and motorcycle/vehicle theft.
“On 10/01/2024 at about 1320hrs, Police
operatives attached to Keffi Division on routine patrol sighted an ongoing mob
action and went in to rescue the victim,” he stated.
Upon enquiry, it was discovered that the man,
Ismaila Adamu, abducted a 5yrs old boy at Tsohon Kasuwa, Keffi. He was
immediately arrested and taken to hospital for treatment while the child was
rescued.
"The suspect confessed to being a member
of a syndicate that specialized in stealing children and selling them to the
highest bidders.
"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’ 30yrs, Elishua Idoko ‘F’
43yrs, Gloria Ene ‘F’ 38yrs, Abdulkarim Abubakar ‘M’ 52yrs, Ramatu Ibrahim ‘F’
41yrs, Victoria Cosmos ‘F’ 52yrs, Eforma Sunday ‘F’41yrs, Dorcas Ologbo ‘F’
50yrs and Sherifat Amuda ‘F’ 45yrs.
"Analysis conducted on the phones
of the suspects revealed that forty five (45) children stolen have been sold
and illegally adopted by unsuspecting members of the public across the country.
"The suspects have confessed to
the theft and selling 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 (6) children have been
rescued in Abuja, Ondo and Lagos State respectively. Effort is ongoing to
arrest more suspects involved in the commission of the crime and recover more
of the stolen children,” Nadada added.
The items recovered from the suspects include
fake foreign currency, fire arms and ammunitions, 10 motorcycles and 02
vehicles among others as exhibits.
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