Eight persons have been arraigned at a Magistrate Court in
Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State, for the alleged involvement in the abduction and
sale of a three-month-old baby boy for the sum of N910.000.
Subsequently, the National Agency for the Prohibition
against Trafficking in Persons in collaboration with the police rescued the
victim from a child trafficking syndicate based in Abuja.
Addressing newsmen in Abakaliki on Wednesday, the State
NAPTIP Desk Officer, Ministry of Women Affairs/Social Development, Mrs.
Florence Onwa, said that on December 2, 2017, a case of child trafficking
occurred at Ohaukwu Local Government Area of the state involving a 17-year-old
mother, Miracle Omogo and her three-month-old baby named Chiagbowena Omogo.
According to the NAPTIP Officer, Miracle, who had her baby
out of wedlock, was lured to Onitsha, Anambra State, by one Mrs. Chinyere Agu,
a native of Ohaukwu community under the guise of providing comfort to the
nursing mother and her little baby.
“While they were in the Onitsha residence of Agu, she
drugged her victim. By the time the young mother woke up hours later,her baby
had disappeared,” Onwa said.
She narrated that when the nursing mother confronted her
host on the whereabouts of her baby, the woman told that while she
slept, she leaned heavily on her baby and mistakenly killed the child,
and he had been buried.
Onwa said, “The mother suspected foul play and demanded to
see the son’s grave to authenticate what her mistress told her.
“She told her mistress to come down to their village and
report the entire incident. She obliged and contacted her uncle, one Mr. Enyi
Cyprien, who reported the matter to the Ebonyi State Police Headquarters in
Abakaliki.
“The police swung into action and arrested Agu alongside an
accomplice, one Mr. Philip Umeh, who bought the baby from her. NAPTIP Officials
in conjunction with the police commenced an investigation during which they
went to Kogi State and later Abuja and eventually rescued the baby.
“The buyer, Mr. Philip Agu and six other accomplices were
arrested in Onitsha by the police, the other suspect was arrested in Nnewi town
in Anambra State.
“The baby was later sold to a child trafficking syndicate in
Kogi State and later Abuja at the sum of N910.000, where the mistress, Mrs
ChinyereAgu, received her own share of N450.000,” Onwa stated.
Narrating her ordeal, the mother of the baby, Ms Miracle
Omogo, commended both officials of NAPTIP and the police for the successful
rescue of her baby, narrating that her mistress sold her baby to one Mr. Philip
Umeh, who hails from Awgu in Enugu State.
“My baby was in captivity for three weeks; it was in
December ending that my baby was handed over to me. The actual amount they
collected was N910.000; my mistress received N450,000 as her own share, “ she
disclosed.
Efforts to get the reaction of the Ebonyi State Police
Public Relations Officer, LovetOdah, were not successful as she was involved in
a live radio programme at the time of filling this report.
Meanwhile, when the matter came up at Abakaliki Magistrate
Court on Wednesday, it was adjourned indefinitely.
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