The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has accused three workers in Ogoja, Cross River, of attempting to traffic their employer’s two-year-old child for sale.
Mr Oba Joseph, Head of Operations, NAPTIP Cross River Command, told the News Agency of Nigeria in an interview on Thursday in Calabar.
Joseph said the agency received a call on Monday about the incident, which occurred in Ogberia Ochoro community, in which three suspects allegedly took a two-year-old child while attempting to move him to another location for sale.
According to him, the suspects claimed they had worked for their employer for about three months without receiving their wages.
“They claimed they decided to traffic the child as revenge and to recover the money they said they were owed.”
The NAPTIP boss, however, said the employer disputed the allegation of owing the workers, insisting he had paid them, except for August, which had not ended.
He noted that the suspects were apprehended after a farmer returning from the farm noticed their suspicious movement with the child.
“The farmer questioned them, after which one of the suspects allegedly claimed that the two-year-old child was his own.
“The farmer, who was not satisfied with their explanation, raised an alarm, leading to the suspects’ arrest after they had crossed about four communities,” he narrated.
Joseph said investigations were ongoing, adding that the agency would prosecute the suspects after concluding its investigation.
He said a major issue was the disparity in the suspects’ ages, with the community documenting them as 18, 19 and 27.
The suspects, however, told NAPTIP they were 16, 17 and 25, prompting the agency to seek their parents’ assistance to establish their actual ages.
Joseph said if their ages were confirmed as stated, they could be treated as children in conflict with the law, potentially affecting how the court handles the case.
He stressed, however, that regardless of their ages, the attempted trafficking of the two-year-old child remained established, while the investigation would determine the appropriate prosecution process.
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