Operatives of the Amotekun Corps have arrested a 30-year-old man, Daniel Chigozie, for allegedly selling his nine-month-old son to three different buyers.
Commandant of the Corps in Ogun State, David Akinremi, said the agency received intelligence that the father had serially traded his son, Daniel Chinonye Darlington.
He said Chigozie sold the little boy to three different buyers at different locations in Sango, Meiran and Apapa area of Lagos.
The suspect, a resident of Abela in Sango Ota, Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State was paid N150,000, N400,000 and N700,000 respectively from unknown buyers between August 2022 and February 2023.
According to Akinremi, investigation conducted by the corps revealed that the man, who is suspected to be working with a criminal syndicate had devised a means through which the son was retrieved from each of the buyers after each sale until he sold him to the last buyer, one Dr. Nosa in Apapa.
In his confessional statement, Chigozie admitted committing the crime.
He is being profiled by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for a follow-up investigation to recover the child and for prosecution.
In related news, a 17-year-old boy identified as Noble Uzuchi has been arrested in Rivers State for impregnating 10 ladies.
The State Police command nabbed the suspect alongside his 29-year-old accomplice, Chigozie Ogbonna.
Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Grace Iringe-Koko, said the two suspects were allegedly running a baby factory with two other ladies, Favour Bright, 30; and Peace Alikoi, 40.
She stated that Uzuchi and Ogbonna were arrested following a tipoff.
According to Iringe-Koko, the four suspects operated in the Obio/Akpor and Ikwerre local government areas of the state.
The Police PRO said their base of operations was raided, leading to the rescue of the 10 pregnant ladies and arrest of the suspects.
The statement reads; “On Saturday, January 7, 2023, around 4.45 pm, while acting on credible intelligence available to the Rivers State Police Command, C4I Intelligence Unit operatives raided two houses at Igwuruta and Omagwa communities respectively, where victims of child trafficking were being kept. The victims rescued in the operation are 10, most of them pregnant.”
Iringe-Koko also said investigations revealed that when a victim gives birth to her baby, the syndicate leader kept the child and paid her a sum of N500,000 and that some of the babies previously delivered in the house had been sold.
“All the victims confessed that they were lured to the illicit sales of children because of the need to meet some financial challenges. A Honda Pilot Jeep, white, was recovered from the syndicate leader,” she added.
The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further investigation and possible prosecution of the suspects.
The spokesperson also said efforts are underway to track and arrest the buyers of the children to answer for their crimes.
