A man who intended to sell his eight-year-old son for N20 million has been detained by the Federal Capital Territory Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
The FCT Commandant, Olusola Odumosu, paraded the suspects at the command on Tuesday. He stated that on January 10, 2024, Pius Aondoakaa and the son’s father, Chinana Tali, were detained for plotting to sell Ushafa Tali.
“The FCT Commands’ ardent and astute intelligence personnel in their proactive engagements in January 2024 intercepted a father who conspired with another to trade an eight-year-old boy who he claimed to be his child for the sum of 20 million naira in the FCT,” Odumosu said, explaining how the suspects were apprehended.
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As soon as there was a tip, the suspects were put under observation. In an attempt to make a bigger offer, one of the suspects, Pius Aondoakaa, turned down a 12 million naira bid and was seeking 20 million naira for a “He-goat,” or a boy child.
He also made a 15 million Naira offer for a “she-goat,” or girl child. Pius stated that he had a male child for sale and that the boy’s father intended to utilize the sale money to support his other children.
“In light of this, the renowned father of the boy, Mr. China Telpesa Solomon Tali, was brought to Abuja on January 10, 2024, by the FCT Intelligence Personnel who posed as a legitimate
Employees who assumed the role of a buyer and came to an agreement to purchase and pay 20 million naira.
The undercover agents who pretended to be the buyer met him and his son in a garden. Following the completion of the sale for twenty million naira, police arrived, took the father, Mr. Chinana Tali, 42, of Logo LGA, Benue State, into custody, and retrieved the eight-year-old son, Ushafa Tali.
On January 12, 2024, the male 29-year-old suspect Pius Aondoakaa from Logo LGA in Benue State was also taken into custody for his role in the boy’s father’s plot. The two accused are from the Logo LGA hamlet of R.C.M. Abeda Mbadyul and are Tiv tribe members.
In order to allow the boy to be reunited with his mother, Odumosu turned over the suspects to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons for additional investigation and prosecution.
The son’s father told journalists that he sold his fourth child for N20 million so that he could train his other children because of his dire financial circumstances.
“The hardship situation forced me to agree to sell my son for 20 million naira so that I could train the remaining five of my children,” the man stated.
Upon receiving the suspects, Oseafiana Chineyere, a representative of NAPTIP, declared, “NAPTIP will investigate this matter and the result will be positive.”
In a related incident, on January 11, 2024, the NSCDC FCT Command detained Yakubu Mati, a 23-year-old male, for damaging armored cable along the Idu Metro Railway line.
He had a saw blade, a lighter, and a hoe when he was taken into custody.