The Nigeria Police Force, Anambra State Command, apprehended a couple for purchasing a one-month-old baby for the sum of N30,000.
DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, the Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer, disclosed this in a statement released to journalists in Awka on Tuesday.
The arrest took place at Bridgehead in Onitsha, as the couple was returning from Lagos State.
As per the police spokesperson, the couple was traveling in a luxury bus owned by a well-known transport company, and suspicion arose when a fellow passenger noticed that despite the baby’s cries for food, the mother was unable to breastfeed the infant during the journey.
“The good Samaritan put a call through to Anambra Police on its Control Room hotline in Awka which then relayed the information to the police at Bridgehead in Onitsha.
“The police laid in wait for the luxury bus described and intercepted it in the evening hours. The couple and the baby were identified and brought down for questioning.
“They confessed to buying the child from its mother in Ajah, Lagos for the sum of N30,000.”
Ikenga stated that the Commissioner of Police, Aderemi Adeoye, who thanked the public spirited citizen for his humane concern in giving the information that led to the rescue of the child, commended the police operatives for their vigilance and dedication to duty.
“He has directed that the couple be handed to the National Agency for Prohibition in Trafficking of Persons (NAPTIP) for further investigation and prosecution.
“Meanwhile the baby has been handed to the Ministry of Women Affairs for care by the State Government.”
