Family accuses Enugu police of shielding suspect in alleged child trafficking, petitions IGP

The family of Mr. Okechukwu Ani from Onungeneoma Ugbuawka in Nkanu East LGA, Enugu State, has accused the Enugu State Police of protecting suspects allegedly involved in child trafficking.

In a petition dated August 5, 2024, addressed to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) through their lawyer, Samuel Abazie, the family claimed that the Enugu State Police Command had released suspects linked to the abduction and sale of their child.

The lawyer stated, “Our client’s son, Master Godwin Ani, was kidnapped by Mr. Peter Chiadikaobi Igiri, who is currently awaiting trial at the Enugu Custodial Centre. Mr. Igiri confessed to selling Master Godwin Ani to Mrs. Caroline C. Ani, who then sold the child to an unknown buyer.”

The family alleges that despite Mrs. Caroline Ani’s release on bail due to insufficient evidence and her influential connections, further investigations revealed that she had a longstanding business relationship with Mr. Igiri, involving the sale of numerous children.

The lawyer also claimed that Mr. Igiri had sold his own three children, along with Master Godwin Ani, to Mrs. Caroline Ani. The children were allegedly sold to yet unidentified traffickers with the help of Mrs. Chinelo Nwosu and Mrs. Ebere Ani.

During the investigation, it was discovered that Mrs. Chibuzo Iheoma Okereke, a nurse at the University Teaching Hospital in Port Harcourt, paid N850,000 to Mrs. Caroline Ani for the youngest of the kidnapped children, a 3-month-old baby named Chimsidili Igiri. The baby was recovered from Mrs. Okereke, who admitted to buying the child.

The family’s lawyer further alleged that despite the significant evidence against Mrs. Caroline Ani and her associates, the Enugu State Police have refused to re-arrest them. He warned that allowing them to go unpunished would be against public policy and could provoke public outrage.

The family urged the IGP to order the immediate re-arrest of the suspects based on the new evidence.

When contacted for a response, the Public Relations Officer of the Enugu State Police Command, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, inquired who the petition was addressed to but provided no further comment at the time of the report.