The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Federal Capital Territory Command, has apprehended a man, Chinana Tali, for allegedly planning to sell his eight-year-old son, Ushafa Tali, for the sum of N20 million, News About Nigeria reports.
The suspect was arrested in collaboration with another man, Pius Aondoakaa, on January 10, 2024.
The FCT Commandant of the NSCDC, Olusola Odumosu, disclosed that the command’s intelligence personnel intercepted the father and his accomplice following a tip-off about their plan to trade the young boy.
The suspects were immediately placed under surveillance.
According to Odumosu, Pius Aondoakaa rejected an initial bid of N12 million and was seeking N20 million for a ‘he-goat’, referring to a boy child, while also offering a ‘she-goat’ (girl child) for N15 million.
The suspects claimed that the proceeds from the sale would be used to take care of the father’s other children.
In a sting operation on January 10, the NSCDC intelligence personnel, posing as buyers, lured the father, Chinana Tali, to Abuja.
The transaction for the sum of N20 million was concluded at a garden, leading to the arrest of the father.
The eight-year-old boy, Ushafa Tali, was recovered during the operation.
The second suspect, Pius Aondoakaa, who had conspired with the father, was also arrested on January 12, 2024.
Both suspects are of Tiv ethnicity and from R.C.M Abeda Mbadyul village in Logo LGA, Benue State.
The NSCDC handed over the suspects to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for further investigation and prosecution.
The rescued boy, Ushafa Tali, is expected to be reunited with his mother.
In an interview with journalists, the father, Chinana Tali, attributed the decision to sell his son to economic hardship, stating that the poor economic situation compelled him to agree to the deal to raise funds for the education of his other children.
The NAPTIP representative, Oseafiana Chineyere, assured that the agency would conduct a thorough investigation into the matter.
