An alleged child trafficking syndicate arrested by the police in Gombe State the victims sold baby to buyers with the connivance of government officials

I have boys as children; I only wanted to have a girl-child,” was the excuse given by Mrs Tina Raphael, a 60-year-old woman from Anambra State who was arrested by the Gombe State Police Command over her involvement in a case of suspected child trafficking.

In an interview with Saturday PUNCH, Raphael said she adopted the baby from a suspected trafficker she identified as Khadijah for N400,000, adding that she was introduced to the ailing child who was dying from malnutrition.

“I had been wanting to adopt a baby girl since January 1, 2024, and was told that one was available by Khadijah. The baby is one year old and she was not walking and was sick, so I asked her (Khadijah) to bring the baby to me to see what I could do to help her.

“After looking at the baby, I noticed that she was suffering from malnutrition and needed medical assistance; that’s why I asked her to bring the child after which I asked her how I could get legal papers for the custody of the baby since she works with social welfare (in the Ministry of Women Affairs) because she told me she works there.”

Narrating further, the 60-year-old woman disclosed that she was charged an amount for the documentation of the baby’s ownership and denied buying the baby.

“She (Khadijah) told me to bring N400,000 which I did. This happened on January 1, 2024, and I was hoping that she would come on Friday and hand over the papers to me, only for me to see her with police in my house and (the police) arrested me without the papers; that was how I got involved.

“I didn’t buy the baby with the money I gave her because she said she would hand over papers to me and that was what I had been waiting for,” Raphael added.

When our correspondent asked her whether she knew who the little girl’s mother was, she said she was told that the baby’s mother had died.

“The baby’s mother is dead and nobody is there to take care of her. She is sick and cannot walk and my husband welcomed the idea too because I have only male children,” she added.

Like Raphael, another resident of Gombe also from Anambra State, Ukamaka Ugo, who was also arrested for baby racketeering, claimed she was innocent.

Ugo said Khadijah had promised to ‘give’ her baby for a fee when they met in a market.

“There was a day I went to the market and met Khadijah carrying a baby girl on her back. We exchanged greetings and I told her that the baby she had on her back was beautiful and that I wished she could let me have her since I did not have any.

“She said she would not give me this one (the baby) but that she was a worker in the hospital with the social welfare department. She said any time she got a baby she would let me know,” she said.

Ugo told Saturday PUNCH that in April 2023, Khadijah informed her about a woman who recently had a baby but did not have money for the child’s well-being.

“Khadijah called in April 2023 that there was a girl and the mother was in the hospital, that she gave birth but didn’t have the resources to take care of the baby. When I heard what she said, I told her that I was interested.

She told me to buy some baby items and take them to the mother of the girl at the hospital so she (the baby’s mother) would hand the baby over to me. I gave her N50,000 to process everything,” she said.

While arguing that the child wasn’t sold, Ugo noted that the N50,000 included the child’s medication and other needs. She, however, admitted that the baby was later handed over to her to keep as hers.

“She (Khadijah) told me that she would not hand the baby over to me until she had processed everything at the social welfare office. She called me after a week on the phone and told me that she was through with the social welfare processes.

“When they came to carry the baby, she said the paper was not yet out from the social welfare office and that anytime that the paper was ready, she would hand it over to me.”

“After a week, I started training the baby like mine, that’s all I know. I didn’t steal any child; I thought I was dealing with the right person and from the right source because she told me she worked with the social welfare office,” she told our correspondent.

Ugo disclosed that the parents of the child had signed an undertaking to hand over the child to her.

“The mother of the baby, the grandmother, the baby’s father, and his brother all went to the social welfare (office) and signed that they had handed the baby over to me; that was why I agreed to take care of the baby. The N50,000 was for the delivery (hospital bill).”

But the family of the baby denied selling their child to the suspect. The father of the baby, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Saturday PUNCH that they chose to involve the police when Khadijah’s movement and actions became suspicious.

“We didn’t sell our daughter’s child, though we received some money from Khadijah. We were prevented from seeing the child, so we alerted the police because that was not what they (Khadijah) told us,” he added.

Babies not taken without parents’ consent – Khadijah

However, the prime suspect debunked the allegations of child theft and trafficking. Khadijah said she didn’t commit any crime. She told our correspondent that while she collaborated with some social welfare workers, none of the children were forcefully taken away from their families.

“I’m not a trafficker. I only linked the person who saw the baby with me to the social welfare (office).

“I didn’t sell any child but the person I linked them up with was given N400,000 and I gave the office N200,000 and got the other (half). I have never sold any baby before nor have I bought from anyone.

“None of the children were stolen; they unfortunately had poor parents who couldn’t take care of them or their mothers died. So, in such a case, the baby needed to be given ample support and care to survive,” she claimed.

Child abduction is fast becoming a major problem in Nigeria, with several cases reported in Gombe and other parts of the North.

In September 2020, the police in Gombe disclosed that they uncovered a human trafficking ring and rescued 12 children

The then-Commissioner of Police, Shehu Maikudi, while parading four human traffickers, said the arrest of the syndicate was done by the police with support from parents.

“Some parents complained that their children were abducted. One of the suspects was arrested last week. Investigation took police to Anambra where they recovered two children,”

“The suspect we have in our custody today took to her heels since 2017; she has been on the run, changing locations, and in her custody, we found 12 children from various locations.

“We can’t comfortably say they are all from Gombe. This breakthrough was done painstakingly by the combined team of the police and parents in conjunction with the state government because they provided all the logistics.”

In December, 2023, the police in Anambra State said they arrested a couple trafficking a one-month-old baby from Lagos. According to a statement issued by the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, the interception was made at the River Niger Bridgehead in Onitsha on December 17.

In June 2023, five children were rescued from two suspected child traffickers in Auchi, Edo State. The children, all girls, aged between seven and nine, who travelled unaccompanied, were said to have arrived at Auchi in the evening from Kaduna and were trying to establish contact with the two suspected female traffickers to take them to Onitsha before they were rescued.

In September 2021, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, Makurdi Zonal Command, said it arrested two suspects in connection with the sale of babies in the state.

The Zonal Commander, Mrs Gloria Bai, who disclosed this in Makurdi, the state capital, said two young victims were taken from Gboko and sold out in Lagos.

The Gombe State Police command explained that Khadija colluded with 15 others, including staff of Gombe Local Government Area, involved in the sale of babies, stressing that they were arrested following an intelligence report received from the Barunde community.

The Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Mahid Abubakar, said, “The community claimed that sometime within last year, one Khadija Shehu-Manzo and 15 others were involved in selling young babies to people in need.

“Upon receipt of the report, detectives attached to Low-Cost Division swung into action where a full-blown investigation was carried out and the said Khadija was arrested.”

While Khadijah strongly denied her involvement in the crime, the police spokesman said, “The remaining suspects arrested confirmed that Shehu-Manzo allegedly sold two babies to Ukamaka Ugo on different occasions.

“Shehu-Manzo sold one child (for) N400,000 (and) out of the money (that came) from Tina Raphael, she gave N200,000 to one Haruna Abubakar, who is working with the social welfare (office in) Gombe in that he was going to make relevant documentation available for proper handing over of the child.

“Yahaya Sulaiman was the person who received the money on Abubakar’s behalf.

“Ukamaka Ugo bought two children; they are presently in Lagos and Anambra. We are working to see how to recover them as well,” he added.

But Abubakar, the Head of the Education and Social Development Department responsible for legitimising child adoption process in the Gombe Local Government Area, said the N200,000 he received from Khadijah was a gift and not a proceeds of crime.

The 50-year-old, “I work with the Gombe Local Government in the Education, Social Development Department. I was involved in a case through Hadisah (Khadijah) who came to our office to tell me that her sister was given a child for adoption and that they sent them to come to our office for us to document everything.”

“I told them since the mother of the child had passed away (died), she should invite the grandfather to come so that I can interview him. When he came, he said the same thing. So Hadisah (Khadijah) said she needed paper (documentation), but I objected saying there were procedures to getting a paper as there was a need to write applications for fostering, which included giving the paper to the ward head of their area to sign,

“It also included the passport of the woman who needed the child and the husband before one can proceed and it must be addressed to the Chairman of the Gombe Local Government Area then we can process the document to give you paper.”

On the alleged sum received, Abubakar added, “I told her to apply for the letter as we couldn’t give her the paper without proof. The money she gave I used N20,000 out of the money to give to the grandfather, and the rest (was) for us to share.

“She didn’t bring the application. I didn’t charge her N200,000; she decided to give me the money, I didn’t charge her anything as we don’t charge to process documents.”

When contacted by our correspondent, the state coordinator of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, Aminu Shira, declined comment.

He said, “After completing the investigation, we will call the media for a briefing. Anything I tell you will tamper with it (the investigation).”

However, the Human Rights Commission taking custody of a child without following the process back by law was tantamount to human trafficking.

Speaking with our correspondent, the Public Relations Officer of the Gombe officer of the NHC, Alola Alfinti, said, “You can’t just pick someone from the street or just take a child and adopt them. There are laid down procedures, and legal processes up to a court.

“You can have legal custody of a child if you follow the process but there are gatekeepers in the state when it comes to this, including the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development which has a registry. If you go there, they would give you the child but you would have to complete the court processes.”

Alfinti, explained that a child adoption process could take many years to complete.

“I remember there was a time when one child was adopted in Gombe. It took about 10 years and they (foster parents) wanted to fly him abroad.

“They were caught at the airport (with the child) but they had to come back to Gombe to find out whether they followed laid down processes. Fortunately, when they came, documents were backing the child’s adoption. If you follow the processes, there wouldn’t be problems,” he added.

There was a mild drama at a Federal High Court, Abuja yesterday after Justice James Omotosho adjourned the hearing of a bail application of Prof. Cyril Ndifon, the suspended Dean of Faculty of Law, University of Calabar (UNICAL), until January 31.

The adjournment followed counsel for the prosecution, Osuobeni Akponimisingha’s objection that he was just being served with Ndifon’s further affidavit and would need time to study the process in the interest of fair hearing.

The development did not go down well with Solomon Umoh, SAN, who appeared for Ndifon, and Sunny Anyanwu, the co-defendant.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is prosecuting Ndifon and Anyanwu (1st and 2nd defendants) on allegations bordering on sexual harassment and threatening the star witness in the case.

Anyanwu, who is one of the lawyers in the defence, was joined in the amended charge filed on January 22 by the ICPC on allegation that he called one of the prosecution witnesses on her mobile telephone during the pendency of the charge against Ndifon to threaten her.

Justice Omotosho had, on Thursday, ordered the two defendants to be remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre pending the hearing of their bail applications.

The judge, who adjourned the matter until yesterday, held that the bail request would be taken after the trial.

When the matter was called yesterday for continuation of trial, Umoh prayed the court to allow the hearing of his clients’ bail applications before the trial but Akponimisingha opposed it, saying based on the previous day’s directive of the court, the trial should be taken first.

The ICPC lawyer argued further that he was just being served with the latest application filed on Thursday by Umoh and that he would need time to study it and know whether to respond or not.

But Umoh told the court that Akponimisingha was being economical with the truth because he was aware of the medical report attached to the application already, adding that the instant application was just an adjunct.

He said when the judge admitted Ndifon to temporary bail on January 10 to enable him go for a glaucoma surgery slated for January 11, it took them about a week to perfect the bail before the professor could proceed.

He said the latest documents attached to the bail application had been verified by the ICPC in Exhibit PF3

“So why will the counsel seek for an adjournment?” he asked.

Besides, Umoh argued that Akponimisingha had no right to file any other process after the one he filed “because this is the final process.”

He insisted that bail is a constitutional right which should not be taken away from his clients, even though they had been subjected to media trial.

“We are talking of a constitutional right of a professor of Law to liberty,” he said.

The senior lawyer urged the court to overrule Akponimisingha and proceed to hear the bail plea.

Umoh said in the event that his application was not granted, “we ask that the interim bail be extended because he (Ndifon) has an imminent irreversible eye defect.”

But the anti-graft commission’s lawyer disagreed with Umoh.

He argued that the exhibit (Exhibit PF3) that the learner silk cited that they verified was in response to the medical report dated December 29, 2023, and not the one dated January 19.

He said contrary to Umoh’s claim, the commission had not verified the latest exhibit (Exhibit A).

“We have not verified the instant exhibit dated 19th day of January, 2024. He just served me about three minutes ago.

“I am just seeing this document for the first time. Fair hearing demands that I be allowed to see it, whether to respond to it or not.

“That is my reserved right which cannot be taken away from me. That is why I sought an adjournment to enable me look into it,” he said.

Ruling, Justice Omotosho said in view of the fact that the further affidavit filed on January 25 by Umoh was served on Akponimisingha in the courtroom, “it is fair hearing that the lawyer be given time to respond.”

He said since accelerated hearing had been granted in the matter, the court would give a short adjournment.

The judge consequently adjourned the matter until January 31 for hearing of the bail applications.

But shortly after the adjournment, Umoh stood up to address the court.

The senior lawyer, who insisted that bail is a constitutional matter, said the application he brought was in line with the constitution.

He reminded that Ndifon did not flout the interim bail granted by the court, hence the need to admit him to bail or extend the earlier one granted him.

“I beg in the name of God that he should be granted the bail in the terms granted him earlier,” he said.

Responding, Justice Omotosho said the earlier bail granted was granted on the premise that there were facts before the court that Ndifon was going for a medical surgery on a scheduled date.

He said even though they were unable to conclude on the bail application, the defendant was allowed to go on bail but did not undergo the surgery in the long run.

He said the facts about the present application were not before the court.

“You filed a process on January 25 and you served the prosecution counsel today.

“That process has a medical report that was not before the court and the prosecution said he needs to respond.

“I have looked at my diary and there are many cases on Monday and Tuesday.

“Even on Wednesday, January 31, I have about 19 cases but I conceded to ensure that the bail application is taken,” the judge explained politely.

Umoh then prayed the court to take Anyanwu’s bail, saying “the bail of the 2nd defendant is independent of the 1st defendant. I will always thank you.”

Umoh consistently addressed the court using the word, “You,” and the judge corrected him, saying “learner silk, you are 13 years as senior advocate. You don’t address the court using ‘you’.”

“Don’t judge me with this because I am on my weakest point today,” Umoh responded.