Ten child smugglers nabbed for stealing 45 children

Ten persons suspected to be involved in child theft and sale have been arrested in Nigeria.

They were apprehended by the Nasarawa state police command.

The state commissioner of police, Shehu Nadada, disclosed this while parading the suspects at the command’s headquarters in Lafia on Friday.

The commissioner said police operatives attached to Keffi division, on routine patrol on January 10, rescued a man from mob action.

Upon enquiry, it was discovered that the man was alleged to have abducted a five-year-old boy in Keffi.

Nadada said the suspect later confessed to being a member of a syndicate that specialises in child theft and sale of children to the highest bidders.

He said further investigation led to the arrest of nine other members of the syndicate.

He added that further analysis of their mobile phones revealed that they had stolen and sold 45 children, who had been adopted by unsuspecting members of the public across the country.

Although the commissioner did not state the period when the children were stolen, he said most of them were stolen from Abuja, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Plateau and Niger states.

He said six of the children have been recovered from Abuja, Ondo and Lagos states, while efforts are ongoing to arrest more accomplices and recover the other children.

The suspect allegedly confessed to selling off the children at different prices, ranging between N350,000 to N1.5 million depending on their age and gender.

Nadada said the suspects usually conspire with some social welfare officers to produce fake documents that facilitate the sale of the children to willing buyers.

The commissioner urged families wishing to adopt children to be wary of criminals, and implored parents to pay more attention to their wards.