SARS Operatives Apprehends Four Suspects on Child
Trafficking In Abia State
The State Anti-Robbery Squad Operatives (SARS) rescues 19 children conveyed in a Toyota Sienna while conducting a stop and search operation at the Isiala Ngwa South LGA axis of the busy Expressway. This was confirmed by the Abia State Commissioner of Police, Ene Okon.
Okon disclosed this information while speaking with newsmen via telephone chat. According to him, he directed the SARS personnel to hand over the four suspected traffickers nabbed by his men to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for continued investigation.
However, he warns people who indulge in child trafficking
and those contemplating joining the business to desist from such because the
police and other security agencies would make sure their illicit business won’t
thrive in Abia state.
According to a source with the Abia State Police Command who
prefers being anonymous, he said;
“The suspects said
that they have a school where they teach those children, Judaism in Asa area of
the state. They were not specific about the school or the place where the
school is located.”
“It is not that clear, but I think that they were kept with
the human trafficking section at the State Criminal Investigation Department
(SCID). The suspects said that they were taking the children to a place in
Omoba in Isiala Ngwa South where they will quarantine them.
“Are they officials of NCDC (National Center for Disease
Control) to quarantine the children? Why didn’t they invite the parents of the
children to come and pick them since last week that the state government
announced the closure of schools in the state?
“It is for the State CID to unravel where the suspects
brought the children. Where they are going with the children and why they
didn’t invite their parents to come and pick them up from their school in the
face of this coronavirus pandemic?
“There is no reason why they should be keeping such number
of children with them when the state Governor has issued a stay-at-home
directive?
“Why should they (suspects) be taking the children to a
special place outside their home and out of the reach of their parents?
“I am sure that officers at the specialized section of the
SCID will still talk to them individually in order to ascertain the claims of
the suspects,” a source in Abia Police Command stated.