Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force at Funbi-Fagun division in Ondo town have arrested a couple, Ayobami and Mujidat Wahab with two other women over alleged child trafficking.
According to the DPO in charge of the station, Olu-Ojo Ogunmoyole, the suspects who specialized in street begging are indigenes of Ibadan, Oyo State. They were arrested alongside five under-aged pupils who are between eight and 10 years.
The police chief said the suspects who always pretended as if they were blind, always moved about with the children and begged for alms on daily basis. In their confessional statements, one of the suspects, Folasade Iyiola, said she relocated from Ibadan to Ondo town recently.
She said she left Ibadan with two of the children, without the knowledge of their parents. She explained that she had been in the business for over three years, until he was arrested by the police.
One of children, Ibrahim, said he was a primary six pupil in Ibadan, stressing that he was in the midst of his colleagues during the celebration of the last Ileya festival when he was picked by one Mrs Mujidat and brought to Ondo.
Ibrahim said “On that day, the woman held my hands, and I could not remember anything again. I later discovered that I was already in Ondo town. A few days later, we started the street begging business.
Later, I started dreaming about my mother; that was why I told Fatai (one of the victims) that I will run back to Ibadan.” He explained that after escaping from the child traffickers, they became hungry and begged a woman for food. He said the woman took them to the police station. Crdt: Punchng
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