Kano State Police Command, on Thursday, said it busted a child trafficking syndicate that sold children from the state for between N400,000 and N500,000 in Lagos, Anambra and other states in the South.
Also, the Police rescued seven children from the nine-man syndicate. The children were aged between three and eight years. It was learned that they were stolen as infants.
Meanwhile, before selling off the children, their names were usually changed.
The Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Gumel, paraded the suspects at the Bompai Police headquarters of the state.
Gumel said the command busted the syndicate when one Comfort was intercepted at the Mariri luxurious park in Kano. She was attempting to traffick a five-year-old victim (names withheld) to Lagos.
He said Comfort’s arrest led to nabbing other eight members of the syndicate.
According to him, “In the area of tackling offences around human trafficking, including the buying and selling of minors, the Police Command has conducted several intelligence-led operations.
“It was discovered during the investigation that the child, who is from Zango Quarters, was abducted on December 12 from Bauchi State.
“Further investigation revealed that the suspects are in the same cycle of abducting, buying and selling minors from Bauchi and Kano states. They traffick and sell them to people within their racket in different locations in Lagos and Anambra states.
“In addition, two more syndicate members were arrested in Bauchi. They are Yarima, 45, of Zango Quarters, Bauchi, and Samuel, 35, of Yelwa, Bauchi State.
“Also, one other syndicate member was arrested in Lagos State. She is Obi, indigene of Nnewi, Anambra State, aged 59 years. Through her another syndicate member was also arrested in Nnewi. She is Eriobuna, aged 59.
“This brought the total number of arrested trafficking suspects to nine.
Vanguard
