The Police Command in Anambra has detained four female suspects over the alleged trafficking of a week-old baby girl at Ifite-Awkuzu community in the state.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, made the disclosure in a statement to newsmen yesterday in Awka.
“The command, through its operatives attached to the Rapid Response Squad, Awkuzu, on October 28, acting on credible intelligence, stormed a location identified as Mama Maternity situated at Ifite-Awkuzu in Oyi Local Government.
“During the raid, the operatives rescued a week-old baby girl and arrested four female suspects in connection with a case of conspiracy and child trafficking,” he said.
Ikenga said that preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects conspired among themselves and allegedly purchased a newborn baby girl, barely a week old, for the sum of ₦1.7 million.
According to him, they had reportedly paid an advance sum of ₦350,000 to the purported biological mother of the child, who is among the arrested persons.
The police spokesman said that the baby girl had been safely rescued and was currently under protective care.
He said that the Commissioner of Police (CP) in the state, Ikioye Orutugu, had ordered the immediate transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Gender Unit, Awka, for discreet investigation and necessary prosecution.
Orutugu reaffirmed the command’s unwavering commitment to the protection of children and the ongoing war against all forms of human trafficking in the state.
