The Police Command in Anambra has arrested a couple for alleged trafficking in a month old baby.
Police spokesman in the state, DSP Toochukwu Ikenga, who disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, said the couple procured the baby in Lagos and were on their way to the Southeast.
He said the couple were traveling with the baby when a co-passenger observed that the supposed mother could not breastfeed the baby even after the baby had cried for food for a long time.
He said they were intercepted at the Niger Bridgehead in Onitsha on Dec. 17.
According to him, a good samaritan called the control room of Anambra Police in Awka which then relayed the information to the Police at Bridgehead in Onitsha.
“The Police laid in wait for the bus carrying them, identified the couple who were taken in for questioning.
“The couple confessed to buying the child from its mother in Ajah, Lagos, for N30,000,” he said.
Ikenga said the State Commissioner of Police, CP Aderemi Adeoye, had directed that the couple be handed over to the National Agency for Prohibition in Trafficking of Persons (NAPTIP) for further investigation and prosecution while the baby has been handed over to the Ministry of Women Affairs for care by the state government.
“CP Adeoye thanked the public for the information that led to the rescue of the child.
“He also commended police personnel for their vigilance and dedication to duty,” he said.