Police in Rivers State busted a child trafficking ring and recovered a five-year-old girl who had been sold for N600,000 to an unknown Imo State bidder.
After going missing on May 20, 2022, the child was claimed to have been kidnapped from Omagwa village in the Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The state Commissioner of Police, Friday Eboka, disclosed this while parading 30 suspects arrested for various crimes at the police headquarters in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.
The CP said,
“On May 20 this year, a lady called Peace Emmanuel reported that her five-year-old daughter was missing. The case was reported at the Omagwa Police Station.
“But later, it was transferred to the Commissioner of Police Monitoring Team at the Forces Avenue, Port Harcourt.
“They went into investigation and eventually, it was discovered that it was her sister who arranged to steal her child and she eventually sold the child to a lady in Imo State for the sum of N600,000.
“So, we went and we were able to rescue the little girl; we also arrested two suspects. The major suspect’s name is Ejike Edith, aged 30; she also mentioned others who did that crime with her.
“They are Prince Ugwu and Nkiruja Samuel, 26. These suspects were also arrested and are here with us.
“But the person who received the baby is in Imo State and we are making arrangements to ensure that he is arrested to face the law.”
“Similarly, on May 27, the same anti-kidnapping unit also arrested one Messiah Wisdom.
“The suspect would invite girls to his house, drug them, make love to them, video them and threaten them to bring the sum of N1m or risk the chance of the video going viral.
“This morning (Wednesday), we also got information that some people were looking for AK-47 rifles to buy.
“We worked on that piece of information, developed it and sent our men to go and pose as those wanting to sell the rifles.
“Eventually, two men came up to buy the rifles. They agreed to buy the rifles for N850,000 per rifle.
“They wanted to buy four pieces; they came with a boat and had with them the sum of N1.3m, which they wanted to pay as a deposit.
“They promised that when we follow them to the river, they would give us the balance in the river. But these two people were arrested and the money was recovered.
“The third person escaped with their boat. The suspects confessed and said they wanted to buy the rifles to protect their community.
“I don’t know who gave them permission to bear AK-47 rifles to protect their community,” Eboka added.
