Twelve persons have been rescued by the Rivers State Police Command during a sting operation on two suspected baby factories in the state.
This is contained in a statement by Grace Iringe-Koko, the Police Public Relations Officer ( PPRO) in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
Iringe- Koko said that the command received information about a child trafficking ring around Omagwa and Igwuruta and deployed its intelligence unit operatives to the area
The PPRO said the operatives also arrested four suspected operators of the baby factories.
She said the victims, consisting of two adult males and 10 pregnant women aged 15-29 were forcefully kept in the factory by the operators who take away their babies after delivery and pay them off.
“On Jan. 7 at about 4:45 p.m., we received credible intelligence on the activities of a child trafficking ring in Igwuruta and Omagwa communities in Rivers.
“Upon receipt of the intelligence, the command’s C41 Intelligence Unit operatives raided two houses (factories) at Igwuruta and Omagwa communities were victims of child trafficking were kept.
“In the operations, four suspected operators of the factories, including two men and two women were arrested by our operatives,” she said.
The Spokeswoman said the suspected child traffickers were led by a 40-year-old woman from Igwuruta community in the state.
“Investigation reveals that when the victims are delivered of their pregnancies, the syndicate leader takes the babies and pay the victims N500,000.
“All the victims confessed that they were lured into the illegal sale of their children because they were promised money to meet their financial challenges.
“The case has been transferred to the command’s Criminal Investigation Department while efforts are ongoing to track and arrest those who had already bought children from the factories,” she added.
Iringe- Koko said a Honda Pilot SUV with registration number: Lagos FST 607 AX was recovered from the leader of the syndicate.
She called on the public to report activities of criminals in their areas or call the command’s emergency numbers: 08039213071 and 08098880134.
