- Safiu Kehinde
Operatives of the Anambra State Police Command have rescued a three-year-old girl allegedly sold in Nnobi, Idemili South Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, made this known in a statement on Saturday in Awka.
Ikenga said that the case involving conspiracy, child stealing and harbouring was transferred from Ogbaru Division, Atani in the state.
According to him, the operatives rescued the girl through sustained intelligence-driven operations.
“The command wishes to inform the public that operatives attached to the Rapid Response Squad, Awkuzu, in the early hours of Nov. 21, recovered a stolen three-year-old girl following a case transferred from Ogbaru Division, Atani, involving conspiracy, child stealing, and harbouring,” he said.
The police spokesperson confirmed that the child has safely been reunited with her parents.
According to him, preliminary investigations revealed that the child was stolen by Miss Chioma Anioma, an apprentice to the victim’s family.
The suspect who sold the victim was trailed by the police to Calabar, Cross River state, where she was arrested.
“Upon realising that operatives were closing in on her, the suspect allegedly escaped arrest in Calabar, Cross River, where the child had been sold to another suspect now on the run.
“In a bid to evade further police pressure, Anioma abandoned the child at Nnobi and later contacted the victim’s parents to disclose the location,” he said.
The police spokesman said that intensive efforts are ongoing to identify, trace, and arrest all suspects connected to the criminal syndicate responsible for the abduction and trafficking of the child.