Governor Yusuf, CP Gumel in a group photograph with the rescued children and their parents at Kano Government House
By Maduabuchi Nmeribeh/Kano
Emotions were high when on Friday, Kano state Governor, Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf reunited the seven children rescued from the hands of inter-state abductors with their parents.
Governor Yusuf also gifted each of the seven rescued children N500, 000, as he received high applause and appreciation from parents and guardians of the children.
Our Correspondent reports that Kano state government, in collaborative efforts with the Police, had gone in search of abducted children from the state who were ferried to some locations in the southern parts of the country.
The move led to the rescue of the seven minors who were handed over to Governor Yusuf by the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mohammed Usaini Gumel, for onward reunion with their identified parents.
Both parents and children shed tears of joy as Governor Yusuf, reunited them with an emotion-laden speech.
According to a statement issued by Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, the Spokesperson to the Governor Yusuf: “The Governor, moved to tears of joy by the commendable efforts of the Kano State Police Command under the capable leadership of CP Muhammad Hussain Gumel, expressed his appreciation for their work.
“Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, deeply dismayed by the discovery of seven children abducted from Bauchi and then trafficked and sold in Anambra and Lagos states, expressed his astonishment at the criminal syndicate specializing in the abduction, trafficking, and sale of children from the Northern States.”
The Governor urged parents to remain vigilant and attentive to the well-being of their children as a fundamental responsibility.
He also called upon his counterpart, the Bauchi State Governor, to take decisive legal action against the arrested suspects.
The Governor also recalled the case of 11 Kano children who were reportedly abducted and sold in Anambra a few years ago.
In response to the issue, Malam Saad from Bauchi, a parent of one of the stolen children, Abdulmutallif Saad, expressed his inability to fully convey his gratitude to the Governor and the Commissioner of Police, Kano State.
Nine suspects, apprehended by the Kano State Police Command, were brought alongside the children they had stolen from Bauchi and intercepted at Mariri motor park in Kano while en route to Lagos.
Speaking on behalf of the Bauchi state government, Barrister Sha’awanatu Yusuf, the Director of Public Prosecution at the state Ministry of Justice, emphasized the unity of Kano and Bauchi for the greater good.
She stated that the Bauchi state government would take the necessary legal steps to ensure that the suspects are brought to justice and face the full consequences of the law.
Our Correspondent recalls that the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mohammed Usaini Gumel, on Thursday, paraded nine abductors cum child traffickers who were arrested by the police over the abduction of the rescued seven children.
Police accused the suspects of trafficking minors from the North to some states in the South, including Lagos, Anambra, Edo and Imo.
According to CP Gumel: “In the area of tackling offences around human trafficking, including the buying and selling of minors, the Police Command has conducted several intelligence-led operations through which the longtime cycle of Inter-states trafficking syndicates hibernating around Kano, Bauchi, Gombe, Lagos, Delta, Anambra and Imo states… was identified and dismantled.
“In this commitments, a total of nine suspects were arrested with seven victims who are mostly minors being rescued from the clutches of this harrowing criminal activities.
” It was through diligent investigations by our dedicated teams of officers that the operations of these criminal networks that have been in existence for more than 10 years were identified.
” This is part of our determination to ensure that Kano state remains a place where the rights and dignity of every individual are upheld. Therefore, the general public should remain assured that this Police Command under my watch have put in place reinforced security measure to end this kind of sensitive illegal acts once and for all.”
According to police investigations, the suspects abducted the children from northern parts of the country with the intention to sell them out to prospective buyers in the Southern part to make huge economic gains.
Police investigation also revealed that some of the children are cultured and assimilated as they can no longer speak their language or even recognize their parents.
One of them who spoke to our Correspondent in Igbo language identified herself as Chiamaka Ambrose.
Our Correspondent gathered from police sources that Chiamaka was abducted at a hospital in Bauchi state by a Doctor who is a member of the syndicate and was sold out to a family in Anambra state who nurtured her from birth until now that she seven years old.
She told our Correspondent that she would not be able to trace or recognize her parents in Bauchi state.
(Governor Yusuf, CP Gumel in a group photograph with the rescued children and their parents at Kano Government House Friday evening)