CHILD TRAFFICKING: ANAMBRA POLICE RESCUE ONE-WEEK-OLD BABY, ARREST FOUR SUSPECTS

Police Logo

The Anambra State Police Command has rescued a one-week-old baby girl and arrested four female suspects over alleged conspiracy and child trafficking. The operation was carried out by operatives attached to the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Awkuzu, in the early hours of Tuesday.

According to a statement issued by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, police operatives, acting on credible intelligence, stormed a facility known as Mama Maternity, located at Ifite-Awkuzu in Oyi Local Government Area.

The raid led to the arrest of the suspects and the successful rescue of the infant.

The arrested suspects have been identified as Elizabeth Okafor (62 years), Esther Nweke (48 years), Ngozi Maanfa (45 years), and Peace Elijah Moses (25 years).

Preliminary investigation, Ikenga said, revealed that the suspects conspired among themselves to purchase the newborn baby girl for the sum of ₦1,700,000.00 (One million, seven hundred thousand naira).

The group allegedly paid an advance of ₦350,000.00 (Three hundred and fifty thousand naira) to the purported biological mother of the child, identified as Peace Elijah Moses, who is among those arrested.

The baby has since been rescued and placed under protective custody. Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, Anambra State Command, CP Ikioye Orutugu, has ordered the immediate transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Gender Unit, Awka, for discreet investigation and prosecution of all involved parties.

CP Orutugu reiterated the Command’s unwavering commitment to the protection of children and the ongoing fight against human trafficking and related crimes across the state. He also urged residents to remain vigilant and report suspicious activities that could endanger the lives of minors.