The Benue State Command of the Department of State Services in collaboration with the State Security Council on Wednesday paraded 11 arrested kidnappers and child traffickers.
The suspects were alleged to be specialists in stealing and selling children across the country.
The DSS also paraded the victims: Emmanuel Abedi, Favor Oleka, James Adanu and Joseph Aboje who had been in the hold of the kidnappers and traffickers for a while.
Speaking to journalists shortly after he was paraded, Adejo Ogiri alias Okala, confirmed that he had kidnapped four children and handed them over to Ezekiel, a bus driver from Imo State.
Adejo said, “Each time I kidnapped children from any part of the state, I usually took them to Ezekiel who in turn, would hand them over to his wife, Amarachi, who specialised in receiving stolen children for the purposes I don’t know.”
‘’I was paid N1m naira for kidnapping little Miracle Jacob. But it led to the bursting of the syndicate.”
At the venue of the parade at the Benue People’s House Makurdi, Governor Samuel Ortom said Ogiri, alias Okala, was the kingpin.
Others paraded were, Affonne Nwokocha from Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia State who facilitated the buying and selling of children.
Ortom explained that the final payment of N700,000 made by one Augustine Basil for Jacob was deposited in Nwokocha’s Keystone Bank account No: 6006236465, adding that the suspect also confessed to have facilitated the adoption of a child for one Henry Ndukwe in 2013, for the sum of N500,000.
Ortom said the State Security Council and the DSS were working with the Benue State office of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons to further investigate and prosecute the syndicate.
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