Kano State Government, northwest Nigeria says seven more children kidnapped from the state and trafficked to Anambra State, southeast Nigeria have been rescued.
In an interview with BBC Hausa Service, Muhammad Garba, Kano State Commissioner for Information said parents of five of the seven children have been identified after some announcements.
Muhammad disclosed that the committee instituted by the Kano State Government to search for over a hundred missing children found seven of them in Anambra State during a mission to the state and neighbouring Enugu.
He stated that pictures and videos of the children were taken and spread until some people claimed they were the biological parents of five of the children.
The Commissioner, however, added that the government was working to verify the claims of the people noting that if found true it would hand over the children to them.
He added that the rescue mission would continue until the remaining missing children meet their biological parents.
According to Ibrahim Isma’il, a father to one of the missing children, there are 113 children who are still missing.
Unverified reports say nine more children were seen in Gombe State, northeastern Nigeria, but the commissioner said the reports were yet to be confirmed.
In 2019, the Police in Kano State announced the arrest of one Paul and his wife, Mercy who kidnapped and trafficked nine children from Kano.
The man and his wife were accused of stealing the children and forcefully converted them to another religion.
The nine children were rescued and reunited with their parents even though some people accused the parents of the negligence of parental protection.
Police in the state in November 2019 said they rescued an 11-year-old boy kidnapped in Kano, Muhammed Ya’u, who was sold in Onitsha, Anambra State.
“In continuation of the Command’s effort to rescue the children kidnapped from Kano to other parts of the country, between 05/11/2014 to 08/11/2019, the command’s Anti Kidnapping Team of Operation Puff Adder carried out another rescue operation,” Abdullahi Haruna, the state Police Public Relations Officer said.
“During the operation, one Muhammed Ya’u ‘m’ 11 years old kidnapped in the year 2014 at PRP Quarters in Kano, was successfully rescued at Onitsha in Anambra State.
“The victim was kidnapped by Paul Onwe and Mercy Paul’ and sold to Ebere Ogbodo ‘at the sum of Two Hundred Thousand Naira (N200,000) and renamed as Chinedu Ogbodo.”
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