By Mashe Umaru Gwamna
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, intercepted five pregnant teenage girls suspected to be victims of child trafficking used as baby factory.
NDLEA in a statement issued on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, Director, Media & Advocacy said the girls were intercepted in Imo state, along Aba-Owerri expressway on Wednesday 13th September, while being relocated from their hideout in Naze area of Owerri to Ikenegbu area of the state capital.
“The victims include: Chioma Emmanuel, 15; Uma Faith, 15; Divine Adimonye, 17; Opara Gift, 15; and Amarachi Mbata, 16. In their statements, they claimed they didn’t know the men who impregnated them. The Imo state command of the Agency has since been directed to hand them over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, for further investigations.
“While two suspects: Moses Akowe, 32, and Sunday Gabriel, 31, were arrested with 227.1kgs of cannabis on Tuesday 11th September at Ikebe village, Ankpa LGA, Kogi state, a female suspect, Bilikisu Salako, 35, was nabbed with 108kgs of same substance on Saturday 16th September in Ifo area of Ogun state.
“A total of 100 blocks of cannabis weighing 55kgs and 600 bottles of codeine-based syrup seized from the duo of Salisu Murtala and Shafi’u Dahiru on Tuesday 11th September along Abuja road have been traced to two other suspects: Muntari Nasiru and Yusuf Ali who were arrested in follow up operations in Kano.
“In FCT Abuja, a 27-year-old Kingsley Chimaobi was arrested with 6,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup along Lokogoma-Abuja road on Tuesday 11th September.”
