There was a mild drama as operatives of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, has arrested a 42-year-old man as he attempted to sell his eight-year-old son for N20m in Abuja.
The FCT Commandant of the NSCDC, Mr. Olusola Odumosu, who paraded the suspect, Mr. China Telpesa Solomon Tali, in Abuja on Tuesday, said that he was tracked and apprehended by a crack team from the command’s intelligence unit on January 10, 2024.
According to Odumosu, the suspect, a father of six children, enlisted the services of one Mr. Pius Aondoakaa, also apprehended, to find a buyer for the victim, who happens to be his fourth child.
He said, “The Commands’ ardent and astute intelligence personnel, in their proactive engagements in January 2024, intercepted the suspect who conspired with another man to trade an eight-year-old boy, claiming him to be his child, for the sum of N20 million in the FCT.”
Odumosu further added, “Following a tip-off, the suspects were immediately placed under surveillance. One of the suspects, Pius Aondoakaa, the agent, in a quest for a higher bid, rejected the sum of N12 million offered him and was looking for N20 million for a ‘He-goat,’ meaning a boy child
He also offered a ‘she-goat’ (i.e., a girl child) for N15 million. Pius claimed to have a boy child for sale, stating that the father of the boy wanted to use the proceeds of the sale to take care of his other children.”
Commandant Odumosu disclosed that “in view of this, the acclaimed father of the boy, Mr. China Telpesa Solomon Tali, was lured to Abuja on January 10, 2024, by the FCT Intelligence Personnel who posed as a buyer and agreed on the terms to buy and pay the sum of N20 million.”
On his part, Tali said hardship in the country forced him to make this decision, stating that the plan was to sell his son to get money to feed his other children.
Both suspects, who hail from Logo Local Government Area of Benue State, were immediately handed over to the operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for further investigation and prosecution.
In the same vein, the Command also paraded a 23-year-old man, Yakubu Mati, who was caught in the act of vandalism of armored cable along the Idu Metro Railway Lines.
He was arrested in possession of a hoe, a saw blade, and a lighter.
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