The police in Kano State have smashed a human trafficking syndicate specialized in stealing children from the Northern region and selling them to buyers in the southern parts of the country.
The police said they made serious inroads in tackling the outright stealing and trafficking of children around Kano, Bauchi, Gombe, Maiduguri and other places, and nine suspects, mainly women, were arrested in possession of the stolen children.
The Police Commissioner, Muhammad Usaini Gumel, said that human trafficking including buying and selling of children has become a source of worry in Kano and other places, hence the Police stepped up intelligence networking resulting in tracking down one of the main networks.
He said the police tracked down the syndicate operating around Bauchi, Gombe, Delta and other places, and nine suspects were arrested with seven kidnapped children, who had been stolen a few months earlier.
He said: “We first tracked down a boy at Mariri Motor park with some non-indigent persons who didn’t understand his language, and after arresting them, we traced all other seven persons in connection with the kidnapping of seven other children.”
A boy, Muhammad Illiya’s name was changed to Chidiebere and sold for N450,000, while Muhammad Bulyaminu was stolen from Sabon Gari, Kano, and sold for N450,000, and Chiameka was abducted at birth and sold for N350,000, but her parents are yet to be identified.
The Police Commissioner said another child – Muhammad Illiya -was rescued from Nnewi in Anambra State after he was stolen at the age of 3 years. Now he is 5 years old and cannot speak his mother tongue. He had been sold for N500,000.
Those arrested in connection with the child trafficking include Chika Ezugu, 53; Joy, 43; Clemente Ali, 35, and Emeka Ekedugwu, 55.
Others are Berut Yarima, 45, from Bauchi; Ndama Obi from Nnewi in Anambra State, and Ebere Emmubu.
Muhammad Usaini Gumel explained that when the police placed an announcement for the parents of the boy, they came all away from Bauchi and identified their son.
“The police have stepped up security measures to tackle the new wave of security challengesin Kano and environ, and we have neutralized many kidnap networks. Nine gang members were arrested in possession of many kidnapped persons, who have now been reunited with their families