It was the end of the road for four members of a child-stealing syndicate as they were arrested by men of the Abia State Police Command after they stole a four-day-old baby girl from a woman who is mentally-unstable.
The syndicate, comprising two men and two women, were arrested on September 16 by operatives of the Violent Crimes Response Unit (VCRU), Rapid Response Unit (RRU), Obehie, for conspiracy, child stealing and trafficking.
The names of those arrested were given as Gladys Nathaniel, aged 48 years; Victor Udochukwu, aged 47 years; Chijioke Obunwa, aged 59 years and Onyeonoro Chinwe, aged 43 years.
It was gathered that the four persons conspired and stole the baby from her mentally-unstable mother and subsequently sold her to another person said to be currently at large after she got information that the police operatives were closing in on her.
They were arrested following what the command described as diligent police investigation following intelligence reports gathered about how they stole the child.
After their arrest, the baby was recovered from the buyer’s house and the mother was taken away from where she was staying.
“The mother has been released to her family for proper care and medical attention, while the infant has been handed over to the Ministry of Women Affairs for protective custody,” the command said in a statement on Monday, September 21.
The command added that the four persons are currently in police custody, and investigation is ongoing at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), after which they will be charged to court upon conclusion of investigations.
