The Police on Monday paraded six suspected child kidnappers at the Force Headquarters in Abuja.

Parading the suspects, the Force Public Relations Officer, CP Emmanuel Ojukwu, said that the case was first reported to the police on June 25 on behalf of Musa Isaac and Musa Idris of Kafanchan, Kaduna State.

The suspects (names withheld) comprised three females and three males.

He said that the complainants accused the first and second suspects of kidnapping three children to an unknown destination under the pretext of buying biscuits for them.

The children (names withheld) aged 13, 3 and 2 years, respectively, were of the same parents.

Ojukwu said that following the complaints, the police investigated and came out with outstanding revelations.

He said that the investigation led to the arrest of two suspects in Edo State whose confessions revealed how they kidnapped the three victims in Kafanchan.

The Force PRO said that the 13 year-old was abandoned along the Abuja-Jos highway, while the other two were sold to a suspect who operated a private hospital in Ikeduru, Imo, for N600, 000.

He explained that the suspect had earlier bought a day-old male child from one of the suspects at N100, 000 in 2014 before she later supplied her two cousins for N600, 000.

Ojukwu said that the operator of the hospital admitted selling the child sold to her by the suspect to a Lagos resident at N300, 000 and buying five more children and selling them to some families.

He advised parents to ensure diligence in keeping watch over their children and wards.

“Parents are therefore advised to devise means of profiling relations and neighbours to avoid falling prey of their evil act.”

He said that the police were working tirelessly to apprehend the Lagos resident.

Ojukwu advised persons wishing to adopt children to follow approved channels to avoid patronising illegal homes.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a medical doctor that worked at the hospital was among the suspects arrested.

Ojukwu said that the suspects would soon be charged to courts in Owerri and Kaduna State, respectively. (NAN)

•Photo shows IGP Arase

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