Human trafficking: Police arrest medical doctor in Enugu
By Adelani Adepegba and Ademola Oni
December 31, 2009 / punchng.org
The police in Enugu have arrested a medical doctor, identified as Chike Uzoma for alleged child trafficking and defilement.
No fewer than five girls whose ages range between 12 and 17 years in varying stages of pregnancy were rescued when policemen raided his clinic located at 6, Nawfia Street, Independence Layout, Enugu.
The Enugu State Police Public Relations Officer, Ebere Amarizu (DSP), who confirmed the arrest to our correspondent on Wednesday, explained that Uzoma had confessed to defiling the girls and selling off infants.
He stated that the suspect would soon be arraigned once the court resumed, adding that investigation into the case was still ongoing.
Amarizu said that Uzoma may be handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Offences if the alleged crime of child trafficking was proved.
The PPRO explained that the rescued girls pointed out the doctor as the person responsible for their pregnancies, adding that the police would ensure that the suspect faced the law for his crimes.
Also, the Ogun State Command of the Nigerian Immigration Service has arrested another Beninoise, Agbonesi Azui, for alleged human trafficking.
Azui was found with six teenagers, who have been trafficked from the Republic of Benin.
The suspect, who was paraded alongside his six victims by the NIS in Abeokuta on Wednesday, brought to two the number of traffickers from the neighbouring country in one week.
The command recently mounted a manhunt for a farmer and an operator of commercial motorcycle in Abeokuta, Tosu Babatunde, who fled the country after his two wives and a trader were arrested over their roles in the trafficking of three teenage Beninoise.
Parading the suspects and the rescued victims, the Comptroller of Immigration Service, Ogun State Command, Mr. Abdulmumini Adbulmalik, said 10 suspected traffickers had been arrested in the state this year while 29 of their victims had been set free.