The Honourable Commissioner for Women Affairs and Vulnerable Groups, Lady Nkechinyere Ugwu has Reiterated the determination of Imo State Government and the Ministry to enforce the laws on Human Trafficking.
Ugwu Stated this when the Imo State Commander Of the National Agency for The Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) Mr Ernest Ogbu, handed over six children and one pregnant girl who were rescued from Child Traffickers caught at Eziachi in Orlu Local Government to the Ministry.
The investigations and subsequent arrests were a joint effort of NAPTIP and the 34 Artillery Brigade Obinze Imo State. The Children were rescued from the Human Trafficking network that specialized in the abduction and selling of children of Imo State Origin to an Auxiliary Nurse based in Portharcourt Rivers State, Mrs Favour Amaegbulam.
The principal Suspect Joy Duru was apprehended with four children. A fifth Child belonging to an accomplice implicated in the crime was rescued as investigations showed that the accomplice is not her birth mother. One of the sold children has been recovered and handed over to her biological parents and efforts are being made to recover another child which the suspect confessed to having sold to a family in Portharcourt. Also rescued were a pregnant girl and an infant found in the Orphanage home belonging to the syndicate that buys the children.
Ugwu thanked Mr Ogbu for a job well done and assured him that the ministry will follow the matter to its logical conclusion. Meanwhile, the children have been placed in a secure environment and the three accomplices detained. Imo the First lady has been briefed on this matter and she has directed that all measures be taken to make sure the culprits face the wrath of the law. Mr Ogbu thanked the Imo Government, Imo First Lady and the Ministry for their continuous support against Trafficking in Persons in the State.
