In a significant breakthrough, the Kano State Police Command has apprehended nine suspects involved in interstate trafficking, abduction, and the buying and selling of minors. The Commissioner of Police, Usaini Gumel, disclosed this during a press conference at the Bompai command’s headquarters on Thursday.
The arrests followed a series of intelligence-led operations targeting interstate trafficking syndicates operating in Kano, Bauchi, Gombe, Lagos, Delta, Anambra, and Imo states. Gumel emphasized that diligent investigations by the police’s dedicated team unveiled the extensive operations of these criminal networks that had been active for over a decade.
The police commissioner revealed that seven victims, predominantly minors, were successfully rescued from the suspects. The rescued children, aged between three and eight, were reportedly sold for amounts ranging from N300,000 to N600,000, depending on their ages.
Mohammed Ilya, one of the victims abducted from Bauchi and later renamed Chidebere, was recently discovered to have been sold in Nnewi, Anambra State.
Gumel assured the public that the command, in collaboration with the state government, would work to safely return the abducted children and reunite them with their original families. He underscored the commitment of the police force to implementing robust security measures to put an end to this menace once and for all.