The Rivers State Police have described how operatives from the command saved a one-year-old infant boy who was purportedly abducted and sold for N1.4 million.
Desire Orlu, the infant victim, was allegedly taken away by a child trafficking organization headed by Polycarp Uzoma, an Ohaji, Imo State resident, who allegedly tricked and physically assaulted Queen Orlu, the youngster’s 20-year-old mother, in a jungle until she lost consciousness.
Grace Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police, SP, who serves as the spokeswoman for the State Police Command, said that three members of the child trafficking network were detained and featured in yesterday’s parade of criminal suspects during a briefing on the Command’s latest accomplishments.
According to Iringe-Koko, the incident occurred last month in a forest in the Ucheabuor village in the Ubima Ikwerre Local Government Area. The police were called to the scene after a concerned community member gave them a tip.
She added that after the kid was taken away, the mother of the child was discovered laying hopelessly in a pool of blood, suffering from injuries, with her intestine protruding from a gash on her stomach when the police arrived at the scene.
However, according to the police spokesperson, the mother was subsequently revived and treated at the hospital as they pursued and retrieved the child from the buyer.
The Police said: “On August 25, 2024, at about 6.35 a.m., operatives of the Command attached to Ubima Divisional Headquarters received a complaint from a middle-aged woman (name and address withheld), indicating that one Queen Orlu, ‘f’, aged 20 years was seen lying unconscious on Omeka Farmland at Ucheabuor.
“Operatives immediately mobilised to the scene where the victim was met in a pool of blood with multiple injuries all over her body and her intestines protruding out of a cut on her stomach.
“Police investigations revealed that the victim was lured into a bush path at Ubima by one Polycarp Uzoma, ‘m’, of Akwa in Ohaji LGA of Imo State, but resident at Ubima.
In a related incident, the Rivers State Police Command has successfully dismantled a child trafficking ring, rescuing 16 children and apprehending a female suspect linked to the crime.
According to SP Grace Iringe-Koko, the command’s spokesperson, the rescue operation was carried out in an estate in the Ozuoba community, Obio/Akpor local government area of the state.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, on Monday in Port Harcourt, Iringe-Koko revealed that the police operatives acted on a tip-off and conducted intelligence gathering in the area, leading to the discovery and rescue of the children.
“One individual has been arrested, and an investigation is underway to identify other accomplices,’’ she said.
Iringe-Koko said that the case had been referred to the Commissioner of Police Monitoring Unit for further investigation