Olusesan Oba
A couple has been arrested by the Nigeria Police Force, Anambra State Command for allegedly buying a one-month-old baby for N30,000.
The arrest was made on Sunday at Bridgehead in Onitsha while the couple was travelling in a Luxury bus belonging to a popular transport company on their way from Lagos State.
According to the police, a co-passenger noticed that the mother was unable to breastfeed the baby despite its cry for food during the journey. The police spokesperson, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, made this known in a statement released to journalists in Awka on Tuesday.
“The good Samaritan put a call through to Anambra Police on its Control Room hotline in Awka which then relayed the information to the police at Bridgehead in Onitsha.
“The police laid in wait for the luxury bus described and intercepted it in the evening hours. The couple and the baby were identified and brought down for questioning.
“They confessed to buying the child from its mother in Ajah, Lagos for the sum of N30,000.”
Ikenga stated that the Commissioner of Police, Aderemi Adeoye, who thanked the public spirited citizen for his humane concern in giving the information that led to the rescue of the child, commended the police operatives for their vigilance and dedication to duty.
“He has directed that the couple be handed to the National Agency for Prohibition in Trafficking of Persons (NAPTIP) for further investigation and prosecution.
“Meanwhile the baby has been handed to the Ministry of Women Affairs for care by the State Government.”
