Mother, Co-tenant Held for Child Trafficking in Ebonyi

Anthony Agbo – Abakaliki/

Two women have been held by officers at the Central Police Station, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, over child trafficking.

Mrs Onyinyechi Ofoke and Mrs Onyinyechi Nworie, who are co-tenants in Abakaliki, were accused of conspiring to sell Ofoke’s 18-month-old son, Olisah, to a yet-to-be-identified buyer.

NewsmakersNG learnt that they were arrested on October 31, 2019, when another neighbour in the compound, having not seen the child for some time, alerted the police who swung into action.

A source in the area, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told our correspondent that both women connived to sell the little boy. The source described the suspects as desperate persons.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Loveth Odah, confirmed the incident on Sunday.

Odah, who said the police got to know about the matter through a tip-off by a Good Samaritan, added that the two women had been arrested.

She said, “The police are aware that on October 31, 2019, a good Samaritan came to the police station and reported a case of child trafficking, where a mother sold her own son, Olisah, who is one and half years’ old, in connivance with her co-tenant, to a yet-to-be-identified person.

“The information showed that the mother, one Onyinyechi Ofoke, and her accomplice (a co-tenant), Onyinyechi Nworie, have sold the child. The report says they have been arrested and currently in police custody.”

According to her, efforts are on to arrest the buyer and rescue the boy.

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