Rivers Police Command officers arrested a 17-year-old boy named Noble Uzuchi and his accomplice, Chigozie Ogbonna, 29, for impregnating ten women as part of a baby factory.
In addition to Uzuchi and Ogbonna, the police apprehended two other women, Favour Bright, 30, and Peace Alikoi, 40.
According to Rivers Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Grace Iringe-Koko, who announced the arrests, the four suspects worked in the state’s Obio/Akpor and Ikwerre local government areas.
While noting that the suspects were arrested following a tip-off, Iringe-Koko said the 10 pregnant ladies had been rescued.
“On Saturday, January 7, 2023, around 4.45pm, while acting on credible intelligence available to the Rivers State Police Command, C4I Intelligence Unit operatives raided two houses at Igwuruta and Omagwa communities respectively, where victims of child trafficking were being kept. “The victims rescued in the operation are 10, most of them pregnant..” the police spokesperson said in a statement.
According to Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police, investigations revealed that when a victim gave birth, the syndicate leader kept the child and paid her N500,000, and that some of the babies previously delivered in the houses were sold.
She said, “All the victims confessed that they were lured to the illicit sales of children because of the need to meet some financial challenges. A Honda Pilot Jeep, white, was recovered from the syndicate leader.”
Iringe-Koko noted that the case had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for investigation, and that efforts were being increased to track down and arrest the buyers of the children who had already been sold.
