By Izunna Okafor, Awka
The Anambra State Government has rescued no fewer than 13 children who were arranged for sale this Christmas period.
The state government, in the rescue mission jointly carried out by the operatives of the Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra (OCHA Brigade), also arrested the suspected principal trafficker, Angela Okechukwu, and her accomplices.
It was gathered that the suspects specialized in adopting and selling children to people from different parts of the country, and had already packaged the rescued children for Christmas sale before the operatives bursted their trafficking enclave.
Reacting to the incident, which happened at Umuzumbala Umuzu Otolo Nnewi; the Managing Director of OCHA Brigade, Comrade Celestine Anere reassured the agency’s commitment to sanitizing and riding Anambra state of criminality and all forms of illegalities.
Comrade Anere re-emphasized that the state government would continue to crack down on child traffickers in the state, further warning every child trafficker in Anambra to relocate or face the full weight of the law.
On her own part, the State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Mrs. Ify Obinabo condemned the act, stressing that it sabotages the efforts of Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo to make Anambra a livable and prosperous homeland.
The Women Affairs Commissioner also decried the extent of malnutrition the rescued children were being subjected to, adding that the act was primarily driven by selfish desires of the culprits.
While it was gathered that the task force also confiscated fake documents that aided the trafficking, reports have that the rescued children, who are aged between 2 and 12 materials, include four physically disabled persons, one speech impaired, twins, and six toddlers, who were already marked for sellout this Yuletide season before they government authorities came to their rescue.
More details later…
