Nine criminals with expertise in kidnapping, purchasing, and selling children, as well as interstate trafficking, have been apprehended by the Kano State Police Command.
This was revealed by state police commissioner Usaini Gumel on Thursday as the suspects were being paraded around the offices of the Bompai command.
He clarified that the suspects were taken into custody following a number of intelligence-driven operations that discovered and broke up the protracted network of interstate trafficking syndicates that were dormant in the states of Kano, Bauchi, Gombe, Lagos, Delta, Anambra, and Imo.
Seven victims—the majority of whom are minors—were freed from the suspects’ grasp, according to Gumel.
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“It was through diligent investigations by our dedicated team of officers that the operation of these criminal networks that have been in existence for more than 10 years were identified,” he said.
The commissioner disclosed that some of the rescued children aged between three and eight that were rescued were sold at between N300,000 and N600,000 depending on their ages.
“It was discovered during investigations that a victim, Mohammed Ilya, who was abducted from Bauchi but his name changed to Chidebere was sold recently at Nnewi in Anambra State,” Gumel said.
He said that in order to guarantee the safe return and reunion of all kidnapped children with their original family members, the command will work with the state administration.
The commissioner gave the public the assurance that security measures had been implemented by the command operating under his direction to permanently eradicate the threat.
