A Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court was informed by an Investigating Police Officer (IPO), ASP Desmond Apella, that children that had been taken from a couple accused of child trafficking had been found.
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Apella was appearing before Justice Peter Kekemeke as the third prosecution witness (PW3) in a case involving suspected child trafficking against 32-year-old Ifeoma Abonyi and 32-year-old Emmanuel Onyekwere.
The two were accused of conspiring and of trafficking in children.
According to the authorities, the acts violate Penal Code articles 30(3), 97, and 273.
Apella informed the court that he was a member of the inquiry team.
He claimed that a guy named Thomas Olobo wrote the Inspector-General of Police a petition in November 2019 regarding the loss of his 17-month-old child.
The complainant told the police, according to the witness, that the defendants—his neighbors—asked whether the infant may go to the market with them during the course of the investigation.
“The first defendant abducted the child after the complainant granted their request.
According to him, “they never gave the baby back, and the second defendant—who said he was the first defendant’s husband—also vanished.”
The witness reported to the court that the offenders were apprehended at Ibusa, Delta State, after the police tracked them down there.
According to him, the investigation showed that the accused ran a child trafficking syndicate.
We discovered that the defendants had sold the infant to a resident of Ababa.
“We saved the infant and brought her and her parents back together.
We also found out that they operate in this manner. In addition, we saved six more kids from them,” he testified in court.
According to NAN, Abonyi allegedly fled, allowing the second defendant to handle the case by themselves.
There was no attorney for the second defendant.
Thus, Justice Kekemeke pledged that the court will get in touch with the Legal Aid Council in order to procure legal representation for the accused.
He therefore postponed the matter until March 19 in order to allow for PW3’s cross-examination and potential trial continuation.
