Rabiu Mukthar, a Kaduna-based father of two recounted how his two children were stolen from his residence by his neighbours who pretended to be a couple.
He recalled the incident during a popular Brekety Family Magazine programme. According to him, the traffickers rented an apartment in the house he lives. A few days after they packed in, they went away with his kids in November last year.
Mukthar explained that his children were trafficked due to his wife’s carelessness and trust in the new neighbours.
He said his wife “left the two children with the neighbour who took them to the market and never returned.”
Mukthar said the issue was reported to the police station “where an initial case was discovered about the abductors.”
He further explained that an owner of an orphanage home in Kuje, Abuja was identified as the gang leader. He was later arrested by the police.
The two children according to Rabiu, were sold for N500,000 to different people in Anambra State. He added that the police rescued them and reunited the kids with him and his wife.
ANAMBRA — A HOTBED FOR CHILD TRAFIKKING
In 2021, it was reported that 18 children were trafficked from Gombe State and sold to a syndicate in Anambra State at N200,000 each. At the time, 11 of the children were not claimed by any parent and were stranded in Anambra State as the police called for Nigerians to assist in reuniting them with their parents.
Two years earlier, no fewer than 11 children were rescued from their abductors in Anambra. In 2020, the police authority in Anambra said it rescued 12 stolen children who are indigenes of the state.
Last year, police authority in Ebonyi State revealed that its operatives arrested a child trafficker who bought a child from Ebonyi to Anambra State. According to a Puch report, the child was sold at the rate of N355,000.
