16th February, 2024
By Isaac Ukpoju
The Police Command in Nasarawa State has arrested 10 suspected members of a child theft and sale syndicate, who allegedly stole no fewer than 45 children.
The Commissioner of Police, Shehu Nadada, made the disclosure while parading the suspects at the command’s headquarters in Lafia, on Friday.
According to the commissioner, police operatives attached to Keffi Division on routine patrol on Jan. 10, rescued a man from mob action and upon enquiry discovered that he allegedly abducted a five-year-old boy in Keffi.
He said that the suspect later confessed to being a member of a syndicate that specialised in child theft and sale of same to the highest bidder.
Nadada said that further investigation led to the arrest of nine other members of the syndicate.
He said that further analysis on their mobile phones indicated that they had stolen and sold 45 children, who have been illegally adopted by unsuspecting member of the public across the country.
The commissioner, who did not state the period when the children were stolen, said that most of them were stolen from Abuja, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Plateau and Niger states.
He said that six of the children had been recovered from Abuja, Ondo and Lagos State, while effort was ongoing to arrest more accomplices and recover more of the stolen children.
He further said that the suspects confessed to selling off many children at different prices, from N350,000 to N1.5 million depending on their age and gender.
Nadada disclosed that the suspects usually conspired with some social welfare officers to produce fake documents that facilitated the sale of the children to willing buyers.
The commissioner charged parents to pay more attention to their wards while calling on those seeking to adopt children to be wary of criminals.