Operatives of Akwa Ibom Police Command, have a father identified as Gabriel Ekpiri, for selling his nine-year-old son for ₦400,000 in the Itu Local Government Area of the state.
Disclosing Ekpiri’s arrest, Akwa Ibom Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Odiko MacDon released a statement, saying the suspect was arrested by the Quick Intervention Squad of the command.
According to the police spokesperson, the suspect, during interrogation, confessed to the crime and blamed his action on the economic hardship in the country.
“The Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom State, Olatoye Durusinmi, has condemned the action of one Gabriel Ekpiri, of the Ekit Itam Akpan Obong, in the Itu Local Government Area, who sold his nine-year-old son for ₦400,000.
“The CP noted that the act was barbaric and totally unacceptable. The suspect who was arrested by the Quick Intervention Squad of the command has confessed to the crime. He blamed the devil and economic hardship for his actions,” the statement added.
In a related development, a Family Court sitting at Iyaganku, Ibadan, Oyo State, remanded a 10-year-old girl’s parents, Isiaka Ahmed, 40, and his wife, Rofiat, 29, who was arraigned on two counts of conspiracy and sexual abuse and exploitation alongside a prankster, Maruf Abdullahi, aka Trinity Guy.
The Magistrate, P.O. Adetuyibi, who presided over the matter on Monday, June 26, 2023, did not take the defendants’ plea for want of jurisdiction, saying the case file had been filed and duplicated at the state Ministry of Justice, Ibadan, Oyo State.
The magistrate consequently remanded the trio to the Agodi Correctional Centre.