- Children, Success (4-year-old female) and Prince (2-year-old male), were stolen in Bayelsa State and recovered on different dates in July
- Gender Unit and State Criminal Investigation Department operatives carried out the arrests in Ughelli, Delta State, and Onitsha, Anambra State, after a discreet investigation
Bayelsa State Police Command has successfully rescued two abducted children who were trafficked to Abia and Enugu States, leading to the arrest of four suspects involved in the illegal trafficking.
In a statement released by the Police Public Relations Officer, Asinim Butswat, on Monday, the four members of the child-trafficking syndicate were identified as Sunday Aniele, Chioma Obi, Kingsley Chimobi, and Harriet Chukwu.
According to the command, the suspects confessed to receiving a sum of N1.6 million for the two children.
The children, four-year-old Success, and two-year-old Prince (a female and a male), were abducted in the Igbogene community in the Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State on June 19. They were successfully recovered on July 21 and 22.
The Gender Unit and the State Criminal Investigation Department operatives of the Bayelsa State Police Command apprehended Aniele and Obi in Ughelli, Delta State, on July 7, and arrested Chimobi and Chukwu three days later in Onitsha, Anambra State, following a discreet investigation.
The statement said, “The children, namely; Success ‘f’ four years and Prince’m’, two years, were stolen by one Sunday Aniele’m’, 22 years and Chioma Obi ‘f’ 24 years, on June 19, 2023, at Igbogene, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
“On that fateful day, Chioma Obi, who claimed to be a sister of Sunday Aniele, took the children away under the guise of purchasing drugs for them. Unknown to their parents, the children were taken out of the State to an unknown destination.
“After a diligent investigation by police operatives, crisscrossing Delta, Anambra, Enugu, and Abia States, Sunday Aniele and Chioma Obi were arrested at Ughelli, Delta State on July 7, 2023. Subsequently, one Kingsley Chimobi ‘m’ 28 years, and Harriet Chukwu ‘f’ 36 years were arrested at Onitsha, Anambra State on July 10, 2023.
“Further investigation took the police team to Enugu, where Success ‘f’ 4 years was recovered on July 21, 2023, and Abangwa, Abia State, where Prince ‘m’ 2 years was recovered on July 22, 2023. The suspects have admitted to collecting N1.6 million only for the two children.”
The command said that the Commissioner of Police, Tolani Alausa, has directed the investigating unit to conclude its investigation and charge the suspects to court.
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