By Attah Ede
Operatives of the Taraba State Police Command have apprehended two women in Jalingo for allegedly attempting to traffic three girls from the state to Adamawa.
The girls, identified as Ummul Shuaibu, Ummul Baba Gasal, and Amina Abubakar, are aged between five and six.
The Command’s Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Victor Mshelizah, confirmed the incident and the arrest of the two women.
He said the investigation was ongoing and that further details would be provided after the investigation was concluded.
The suspects, who are from one of the states in the South-East, were arrested at a filling station while travelling in a commercial vehicle with the three girls.
The women were allegedly taking the girls to Adamawa State when the driver of the vehicle became suspicious because the girls did not resemble them.
The driver subsequently alerted members of his union, who then informed the police, leading to the arrest of the two women.
It was further learnt that the suspects, both of whom are single, had rented a room in a house where the parents of the three girls reside about two weeks ago.
It was gathered that the incident occurred on Thursday morning when the women allegedly deceived the mothers of the girls by asking them to allow the children to accompany them to the market.
Instead of taking the girls to the market, the women took them to a motor park in Jalingo, where they chartered a vehicle to transport themselves and the children to Adamawa State.
At the police station, the women allegedly admitted that they took the girls away from the compound where they had rented a room after deceiving their mothers.
“We were surprised to see our children at the police headquarters. We were asked to identify them, which we did, but we were directed to bring our wives to further identify the children before they would be released to us,” he said.
He said when the girls saw their mothers, each of them rushed to her mother, crying.
