Again Police arrest child trafficker with 245 kids

[Namio]

Published 12/21/2008 1:19:00 AM

Police arrest child trafficker with 245 kids

Francis Falola


The Police have intercepted a truck in Niger State conveying 245 kids from Sokoto and Zamfara States to the state.

The trailer with a registration number Kano XB241 FGE was intercepted around 3am on Kontagora Road on Friday.

The age range of the kids were between six and 10 years.

The Commissioner of Police, Niger State Command, Mr. Paul Iseghohi, who confirmed the development alleged that one Mallam Awaisu Abubakar, had been arrested in connection with the incident.

Iseghohi said the suspect was undergoing investigations at the police headquarters, alleging that the suspect at the point of his arrest claimed he brought the kids for Islamic education.

The police chief said arrangements had been concluded to transfer the kids to their various homes in their respective states on the order of the state government.

Our correspondent gathered that the kids who were jampacked inside the trailer throughout their journey from Sabo Binin in Zamfara State to Minna, lamented their ordeal.

The kids also said that most of them went without food because they did not have money to feed themselves.

The Islamic scholar, who during interrogation claimed that he had been bringing such children to the town for the past 20 years, maintained that it was not his responsibility to provide accommodation or feeding for the kids.

He, however, appealed to the police to allow him to return the kids to their parents, while promising not to engage in such an act again.

The Director General of Media and Public Affairs to the Niger State Government, Alhaji Bala Abdulkhadir, while speaking with our correspondent on the issue, expressed dismay over the manner in which the kids were transported.

“It is not only improper to convey such a number of children at this moment considering the socio-political atmosphere in the country and in view of the recent unrests in some parts of the country, but it is also immoral for such kids to be subjected to a terrible inhuman condition,” he said.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Value Re-orientation, Alhaji Hamidu Kuta, also described the plight of the kids as saddening.




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