Operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons (NAPTIP), have arrested a 38 year old herbalist, Mr. Chigozie John Emmanuel, A.K.A ‘Akuchi’, for allegedly deceiving women into thinking they are pregnant and thereafter giving other people's babies to them having collected lots of money.
Mr. Emmanuel who is from Enugu State is the owner of Akuchi
Herbal Concept, located at New Nyanya, Abuja. He was arrested after weeks of
diligent surveillance by officers of the Agency and those of the Department of
State services.
His arrest was based on a previous arrest by the Nigerian
Police, of a woman whom they saw with a baby in Abuja en-route Minna, Niger
State. Based on their suspicion, they detained and questioned the woman on the
identity of the baby she carried. She admitted to being a patient of Mr.
Emmanuel, whom she said administered some herbs to her after years of
infertility.
She thereafter appeared pregnant and was cautioned against
going to the hospital for any medical treatment or ante-natal care. When it was
time for her ‘delivery’, Mr. Emmanuel directed her to Port-Harcourt where a
baby was handed over to her. She confessed to paying Mr. Emmanuel the sum of
six hundred and fifty thousand naira (N650,000) for his services.
Mr Emmanuel who was arrested at the weekend is helping
further investigations on sale of human beings and child trafficking.
Reacting to the arrest, the Director-General of NAPTIP, Dame
Julie Okah-Donli commended the Officers for their painstaking surveillance
which culminated in the arrest. She further warned the Public, especially
women, to stop patronizing such ‘herbalists’, as the sale of babies is a crime
punishable by law.
The NAPTIP boss advised couples who wish to adopt a child to
go through the legal means of adoption as anything short of that is legally and
morally wrong. According to her, some of the babies they sell to these women
were abducted from their biological parents and sold off against their wish.
She reiterated the Agency’s resolve to tackle the issue of
child trafficking in Nigeria and called for more information from the general
public about any such act or ‘maternity homes’ being run in their neighborhood
where unwholesome activities take place.
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