Child trafficking

By Hadiza Abdulkadir

A Kano State High Court has handed down a combined sentence of 120 years to six members of a notorious child abduction and trafficking syndicate found guilty of abducting and selling children under the age of 10.

The convicts, who operated between Kano and Onitsha, Anambra State, were charged with multiple counts of child abduction, trafficking, and conspiracy. According to court records, the group abducted several young children from various parts of Kano and trafficked them across state lines to Onitsha, where the children were sold.

Justice Zuwaira Yusuf, who presided over the case, found all six guilty as charged and sentenced them to various prison terms without the option of a fine.

Justice Yusuf described the crimes as “heinous and inhuman,” noting that the syndicate’s actions had caused “unimaginable trauma to innocent families.”

She sentenced Mercy Paul to 55 years imprisonment, Ebere Ogbono to 41 years, Emmanuel Igwe to 9 years, Loius Duru to 6 years, Monica Oracha to 5 years, and Chinelo Ifedigwe to 9.

The verdict follows years of investigation and cooperation between security agencies in Kano and Anambra. Parents of the abducted children expressed relief at the ruling, calling it a step toward justice.

Authorities say efforts are ongoing to rescue the remaining missing children and dismantle the broader trafficking network.

By Uzair Adam Imam 

The Department of State Services (DSS) has disrupted a child trafficking syndicate, apprehended a 17-year-old young woman and her sponsor, and rescued a 4-year-old girl named Aisha, who was abducted from Nguru in Yobe State. 

The Kano office of the DSS said the Kano State Hisbah officials handed over the abducted 4-year-old girl, Aisha, to them after they suspected that there was no connection between the abducted baby and her.

The DSS noted that after receiving the abducted 4-year-old Aisha and her abductor, they traced the man behind the child trafficking from neighbouring states and subsequently sold in the Southern part of the country.

The DSS said after interrogation of the 17-year-old lady, she confirmed to them that the man whom she knows, selling groundnuts close to her home, introduced her to the abduction of the 4-year-old Aisha and promised her that nothing would happen to her.

The ringleader of the children’s abductors confirmed that the kidnapping of the 4-year-old Aisha was the third nefarious act he had perpetrated from Nguru.

“Luck ran out of me after I used this lady to get Aisha for me and brought her to Kano, where I normally collect the abducted children and pay off the abductors while I move on with my partners”, he confessed.

By Sabiu Abdullahi 

The Kano State Police Command apprehended nine suspects accused of engaging in inter-state trafficking, abduction, and the illicit buying and selling of minors. 

The arrests were announced by the State Police Commissioner, Usaini Gumel, during a press conference held at the Bompai command’s headquarters on Thursday. 

Gumel revealed that the suspects were captured following a series of intelligence-led operations, successfully dismantling long-standing inter-state trafficking syndicates operating in Kano, Bauchi, Gombe, Lagos, Delta, Anambra, and Imo states. 

The commissioner highlighted the commendable efforts of the police’s dedicated team in identifying and neutralising these criminal networks that had evaded authorities for over a decade. 

A total of seven victims, predominantly minors, were rescued from the clutches of these criminal activities, shedding light on the dark underworld of child trafficking. 

Gumel disclosed that rescued children, aged between three and eight, were reportedly sold at prices ranging from N300,000 to N600,000, depending on their ages. 

During investigations, it was revealed that a victim named Mohammed Ilya, originally abducted from Bauchi but renamed Chidiebere, was recently sold in Nnewi, Anambra State. 

The police commissioner noted the gravity of the situation and pledged to collaborate with the state government to ensure the safe return and reunification of all abducted children with their families. 

He reassured the public that the Kano State Police Command, under his leadership, had implemented reinforced security measures to eradicate this menace once and for all.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

A yet-to-be-identified lady has beaten a child believed to be her maid’s to death in Anambra State.

In a video that went viral on social media on Thursday, the lady confessed to the murder of the deceased, whose identity has not yet been disclosed. 

Information at our disposal reveals that the deceased was brutally assaulted and died before she could get medical attention. 

 “I beat her, and she started convulsing, so I took her to Kings (hospital). Getting there, she died, so I threw her body here.” The suspect said in Igbo

After her arrest by the Anambra Command of the National Agency for Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, she led security personnel to the bush, where she dumped the body of the deceased.

The body was reported to be decomposing at the time of writing this report.