A child trafficking syndicate has been busted by the police in Rivers State and rescued a five-year-old girl sold for N600,000 to an undisclosed buyer in Imo State.
The state Commissioner of Police, Friday Eboka, who disclosed this while parading 30 suspects arrested for various crimes at the police headquarters in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, said to the child was kidnapped from Omagwa community in the Ikwerre Local Government Area of of the state after she was declared missing on May 20, 2022.
Eboka said the suspects would be charged to court at the conclusion of investigations.
According to the CP, also busted was a kidnappers’ den in a forest in Kaani community, Khana LGA of the state, adding that some victims were rescued and several AK-47 rifles used by the suspects seized.
“Similarly, on May 27, the same anti-kidnapping unit also arrested one Messiah Wisdom. The suspect would invite girls to his house, drug them, make love to them, video them and threaten them to bring the sum of N1m or risk the chance of the video going viral.
“This morning (Wednesday), we also got information that some people were looking for AK-47 rifles to buy. We worked on that piece of information, developed it and sent our men to go and pose as those wanting to sell the rifles.
“Eventually, two men came up to buy the rifles. They agreed to buy the rifles for N850,000 per rifle. They wanted to buy four pieces; they came with a boat and had with them the sum of N1.3m, which they wanted to pay as a deposit.
“They promised that when we follow them to the river, they would give us the balance in the river. But these two people were arrested and the money was recovered.
“The third person escaped with their boat. The suspects confessed and said they wanted to buy the rifles to protect their community. I don’t know who gave them permission to bear AK-47 rifles to protect their community,” Eboka added.
