No fewer than 11 suspected child trafficking syndicate that specialised in trafficking babies, have been smashed by the anti-kidnapping unit of the Akwa Ibom State Police Command.
Speaking with correspondents over weekend, the State Commissioner of Police, Murtala Mani, revealed that a woman identified as Comfort Edem, was arrested on October 13, following intelligence report that she had been running an illegal maternity home for the purpose of trading in children.
Mani, who spoke through the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Cordelia Nwawe, noted that the suspects sold the trafficked children at N450,000 each.
According to him, “the suspects went after pregnant teenagers and negotiated the prices of the unborn children with them and once the babies were born, they would be given to the traffickers.
“Information at our disposal led to the interception of a syndicate which traffic babies in Akwa Ibom. On October 13, the anti-kidnapping unit intercepted a woman who owns an illegal maternity home.
“She specialises in making sure that she takes in pregnant teenagers. Once the babies are born, those babies are sold and trafficked out of Akwa Ibom. As a matter of fact, the girls had reliably informed us that this is not the first time they had sold their babies for N450,000 each.”
He also said another syndicate, who sold children for N500,000 each, was also smashed, adding that the police had rescued a two-month old girl who had been sold to a woman in Rivers State.
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