The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Akwa Ibom State Zonal Command says it has uncovered a human trafficking syndicate that specialised in kidnapping minors and selling them outside the state.
It said the syndicate was uncovered along the Calabar-Itu road in Itu Local Government Area of the state
Speaking to newsmen over the weekend in Uyo, NAPTIP Zonal Head in-charge of Akwa Ibom, Tina Ugwu, said the raid was jointly carried out by NAPTIP intelligence and operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), following a tip-off.
Ugwu said that 12 children between the ages of three and nine were rescued while three suspects were arrested during the raid.
She also disclosed that NAPTIP intelligence officials were on the trail of another six-year-old girl sold by the syndicate to a customer in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, who also resold her to another buyer in Imo State.
According to her, “Two of the recovered victims were sold outrightly and we are yet to recover the six-year-old girl sold to somebody in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, who later sold her to another person in Imo State.
“My men have gone to Rivers State to effect the arrest of the suspect, and my men are still on the trail of the Imo suspect including Abia because they are virtually in all states.”
Ugwu said her men were on the hunt for other suspected traffickers who seized a newborn baby from the mother and sold to buyers, adding that two suspects in her custody along with the mother were volunteering information on the crimes.
