Three young girls have been rescued from an alleged child trafficking attempt in Taraba State after a commercial driver became suspicious of two women travelling with them and raised the alarm.
The Taraba State Police Command subsequently arrested the two women, who were allegedly attempting to take the children from Jalingo to neighbouring Adamawa State.
The suspects were said to have rented a room in the same compound where the families of the children lived about two weeks before the incident. They allegedly posed as new tenants and gained the trust of the children’s mothers.
On the day of the incident, the women reportedly convinced the mothers to allow the girls to accompany them to a nearby market. However, instead of going to the market, they allegedly took the children to a motor park and arranged transportation out of Jalingo.
The children were identified as five-year-old Ummul Shuaibu, five-year-old Ummul Baba Gasal and six-year-old Amina Abubakar.
Trouble reportedly began when the commercial driver noticed that the children did not appear to be related to the women claiming to be their guardians. Suspecting that something was wrong, he alerted members of his transport union at a nearby filling station.
The union members immediately contacted the police, leading to the interception of the vehicle and the arrest of the two suspects.
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The children were taken into police custody and later reunited with their families after proper identification and verification.
One of the fathers, Abubakar Kwalli, expressed relief after seeing the children at the police headquarters, saying the families were shocked but grateful that the girls had been rescued.
The police commended the driver’s vigilance and the swift action of the transport union, while investigations continue to determine whether the suspects are connected to a larger child trafficking network.
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