NSCDC Rescues 12-year-old Boy From Suspected Child Trafficker

The Nasarawa State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) on Friday rescued a 12-year-old boy, Sunday Afebande, allegedly trafficked from Obudu, Cross River, to Abuja.

Mr Amos Andekin, the Commandant of the corps in the state, told newsmen in Lafia that Afebande was found wandering around Angwan Kwano in Keffi Local Government Area of the state on April 25.

He said that the boy was rescued by officers of the corps on patrol along the Keffi – Jos highway at about 6. 00 p.m.

Andekin said on interrogation, the Afebande revealed that he was from Obudu in Cross River and that his mother gave him to a man who promised to sponsor his education in Abuja.

He said that the boy, who claimed to be living with his mother and step father, alleged that the unidentified suspect brought him to Abuja from Obudu on April 24 but abandoned him on the pretext of arranging for a car that would take them home.

Andekin said that the boy trekked all the way to Keffi from Abuja before he was picked up by the officers of the corps on patrol along the Keffi-Abuja highway.

He said the command had concluded arrangement to transfer the boy to the Cross River command of NSCDC from where he would be handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for further investigation.

Andekin advised parents not to surrender their children to people of questionable character, adding that the corps would, however, continue to partner with NAPTIP as part of efforts to curb child trafficking and abuse in the country. (NAN)