Three individuals have been apprehended by the Akwa Ibom State Police Command for their involvement in child trafficking.
The suspects, identified as Peace Patrick Paul from Obot in Akara, Akwa Ibom; Mary Eunice from Aba, Abia; and Bella Uko from Asaba, Delta, were arrested in different states.
During a press conference held at the police headquarters in Ikot Akpanabia, Uyo, on Wednesday, the Akwa Ibom Commissioner of Police, Olatoye Durosinmi, provided details of the case. According to Durosinmi, Paul deceived Utibeabasi Monday Enang and abducted her two children, aged three and five, in May.
He then sold the children to Eunice in Aba, who subsequently sold them to Uko in Asaba.
Durosinmi revealed that when the mother of the stolen children confronted the suspects and demanded the return of her children, she was subjected to severe physical assault.
Fearing for her life, she had to flee the scene.
The police commissioner paraded the three suspects, along with others involved in various crimes, to the media.
The investigation into the child trafficking case is ongoing, and the police are working to ensure the safe return of the abducted children to their mother.
The Commissioner of Police also disclosed that a female suspect, Alayodi Paul Onyekwere of Abroma, Rivers State, was arrested for stealing the 11-year-old daughter of Emmanuel Macauley Daniel of Ikot Ikot Village in Obot Akara LGA.
He said: “The suspect alleged that she was sent by her grandmother to steal the child, which she led operatives to recover in Rivers State. The children are here today and will be reunited with their families.”
In an interview, the mother of the two children, Utibeabasi Enang, explained that the suspect deceived her with a promise to take her to a hospital in Ikot Abasi to treat her for an ailment but attempted to kill her after taking her children to an unknown destination.
According to her: “After Peace took me to the hospital in Ikot Abasi, where it was diagnosed that I had internal heat, she took me to the houses of her different boyfriends, where we stayed for over three weeks. When I started asking for my children, she promised to take me to where they were.
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“On our way, she asked the driver to stop by a bridge, saying we would have to cross the bridge. As we were trying to cross the bridge, Peace started beating me and attempted to push me into the river, but I struggled with her until a man who lived close by came to rescue me. He took me to his house, where I used his phone to call someone to send me money because Peace had seized my phone from me.
“When I returned to my village, I reported the matter to my village chairman, who reported the case to Yak Iyamma organisation. I really thank God that after everything, my children were found.”
Also paraded was Sunday Michael Ben, a father who was accused of raping his six-year-old daughter.
The suspect, during interrogation, said: “I had my daughter with me in the house, and that night, I woke up to fix my heater that was bad because there was light. I didn’t touch her. I believe my girlfriend, who was with me in the house, committed the act. I only noticed in the morning that she had bloodstains on her leg.”
The victim, on her part, explained that somebody touched her at night, but she couldn’t say anything or see the person who touched her.
The Commissioner of Police affirmed that the suspects would be charged in court after the conclusion of investigations.
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