The Delta State Police Command says preliminary findings have shown that the 11-year-old girl arrested at the Ekpan Police Division was being used to traffic hard drugs.

The command’s spokesperson, SP Bright Edafe, disclosed this on Friday via his official X handle, following social media backlash over the child’s arrest and detention.

A Nigerian woman, Kat, who tweets as #Living_JustCus, had alleged that she paid N500,000 to secure the minor’s release after police officers detained her alongside adult suspects reportedly caught with hard drugs in a commercial tricycle.

She claimed the girl was held without access to her family and was not allowed to make any contact before the alleged bail payment was made.

The police command on Thursday condemned the incident and asked her to come forward with evidence of the incident.

Edafe, however in an update on Friday, confirmed that the child was arrested and had confessed to knowing and handling hard drugs.

Edafe added that the girl admitted to being used by a woman she referred to as her “mummy” to move drugs, believing her age would help evade suspicion.

Edafe said, “A woman whom the little girl identified as her mummy sent her to move drugs thinking she wouldn’t be searched being a little girl. The little girl herself identified the drugs as Molly, Csc codeine, and black diamond.

“When she was asked how long she had been helping the woman the little girl said she started last week. But what shocked me the most in her video confession is how she knows the names of these dangerous drugs at just 11 years old.

“If I am lying, let them come and prove me wrong. Perhaps the embarrassing video might just be published for all to see.”

As of the time of filing this report, the police had yet to confirm if the woman allegedly using the child had been arrested. (Saturday PUNCH, but headline rejigged)