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The Ebonyi State Police Command on Monday disclosed that it rescued over twenty-six abducted children which were taken to other states of the federation.
The Commissioner of Police, CP. Aliyu Garba made this known while speaking to journalists during a four-day media dialogue with media practitioners on ethical reporting and advocacy to eliminate violence against women and girls in Cross River and Ebonyi States, organized by spotlight initiative.
CP Garba who spoke through DSP Loveth Okimor Ogbouanya, a gender desk police officer in the Ebonyi State Police Command, lamented that a great number of poor children are abducted by child traffickers and sold to other states of the federation.
According to Garba, “we have recovered a total of twenty children who were sold in other states of the federation but for this year, we recovered six from traffickers.
“Sometimes, I use my own money to pursue the cases. It is worrisome that it is the children of the poor people that are usually affected. In most cases, they are told to withdraw the case from the police and that they will be given money. I will make sure that the natter goes to court.”
The commissioner further noted that the police command through the gender desk office has been touring local government areas of the state to ensure that all cases involving violence against women and girls as well as child trafficking is totally eliminated in Ebonyi.
“I made sure that I recovered those children, I slept inside the vehicle for four good days moving from local government to other.
“What I’m saying is that it takes only patients to be in that department. When it comes to the cases of rape, you will see that children of the rich are not being raped.
“It is the children of the poor, once and when the case is brought to the police station and because of inferiority complex or because they are financially down, for those people they will come and ask them withdrew the matter from police” the police stated.
