From Isaac Ojo, Awka
Police operatives in Anambra State have arrested a couple for allegedly trafficking one month old baby from Lagos.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for the command, DSP Ikenga Tochukwu, disclosed this in a press statement on Tuesday.
Tochukwu said that the interception was made at the Bridgehead in Onitsha on 17th December, 2023.
He said, “the couple were travelling in a Luxury bus belonging to a popular transport company with the baby when a co-passenger observed that the mother could not breastfeed the baby despite its cry for food in the course of the journey.
“The good samaritan put a call through to Anambra Police on its Control Room hotline in Awka which then relayed the information to the Police at Bridgehead in Onitsha.
“The Police laid in wait for the luxury bus described and intercepted it in the evening hours.
“The couple and the Baby were identified and brought down for questioning.
“They confessed buying the child from its mother in Ajah, Lagos for the sum of N30,000”.
Meanwhile, the Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Aderemi Adeoye(CP) who thanked the public spirited citizen for his humane concern in giving the information that led to the rescue of the child, commended the police operatives for their vigilance and dedication to duty.
He has directed that the couple be handed over to National Agency for Prohibition in Trafficking of Persons (NAPTIP) for further investigation and prosecution.
The baby has been handed to Anambra State Ministry of Women Affairs for care.
