Operatives of the special task force, Operation Safe Haven, have intercepted a transaction involving the sale of a four-month-old baby in Plateau State.
The Commander of the Task Force, Major General Rogers Nicholas, said members of the security outfit intercepted the deal which was purportedly brokered by a legal practitioner, through an intermediary where an amount had been agreed and paid for the baby.
Recalling how a similar syndicate was intercepted a few months ago in Jos, Major General Nicholas expressed concern over the growing trend of child trafficking in the state.
The baby’s mother, the buyer, the intermediary and the legal practitioner, were paraded at the headquarters of Operation Safe Haven in Plateau State.
The suspects were accused of attempting to sell and buy the four-month-old baby for N100,000.
The 20-year-old mother of the baby, Sandra Ishaku, a resident of Angwan Rukkuba in Jos, claimed that the father of the baby had rejected her and she could not take care of the child.
She said the development led to her decision to sell the baby for N400,000, an amount the buyer, Gladys Chukwuma, said she could not afford but allegedly offered N100,000 for the child through a third party.
The Legal Officer of the task force, Captain Sunday Akinkunmi, stated that no adoption requires any fee as he negates what the legal practitioner involved in the case, Osim Jones, had claimed after allegedly receiving N30,000 as part payment for a processing fee.
The suspects have been handed over to the Police for further investigation and prosecution.
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