The Ogun State Police Command has arrested a 36-year-old man, Kingsley Essien, for allegedly selling his wife to a prostitution cartel in Mali and his son to an unknown buyer.
Essien was said to have collected N1.4 million for his wife, Bright Essien, and N600,000 for the 2-year-old boy.
The police, in a statement by its spokesman, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the case was reported at the Agbara Division Headquarters by the female victim after escaping from Mali.
The statement said, “The suspect was arrested following the report lodged at Agbara divisional headquarters by the suspect’s wife, Bright Essien, who reported that sometime in October 2021, her husband, Kingsley Essien, informed her that he had secured a job for her in Bamako Mali, and that he has assisted many people to that country for greener pastures before.
“She explained further that being her husband, she didn’t suspect any foul play until she got to Mali only to discover that she has been sold to human trafficker cartel headed by a woman at the rate of One million four hundred thousand naira.
“While in Mali, she was forced into prostitution, but later find her way to Nigeria embassy in Bamako where she was assisted back to Nigeria.
“On getting to Nigeria, she discovered that her two years old son in care of her husband is no where to be found.”
Oyeyemi revealed that the Divisional Police Officer, SP Abiodun Salau, subsequently detailed his detectives to arrest the suspect, who confessed to the crimes.
The Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, has therefore ordered that the stolen child must be rescued and the buyer arrested, while Essien’s case should be transferred to the Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Labour Unit of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department.