The Taraba State Police Command has arrested two women for allegedly abducting three young girls in Jalingo and attempting to traffic them to Adamawa State.
The suspects, both single and from a South-East state, were arrested at a filling station while travelling in a commercial vehicle with the children. The driver of the vehicle became suspicious because the girls did not resemble the women and alerted members of his union, who contacted the police.
Investigations revealed that the women had rented a room about two weeks earlier in the same compound where the parents of the three girls live. On Thursday morning, they allegedly deceived the mothers by asking for permission to take the children to the market. Instead, they took the girls to a motor park in Jalingo, chartered a vehicle and headed towards Adamawa.
At the police station, the women reportedly admitted taking the girls after deceiving their mothers. The victims, identified as Ummul Shuaibu, Ummul Baba Gasal and Amina Abubakar, are aged between five and six.
Abubakar Kwalli, the father of one of the girls, said he and the fathers of the other two children were invited to the Taraba State Police Command headquarters.
“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 told reporters.
Police Public Relations Officer ASP Victor Mshelizah confirmed the arrest and said investigations were ongoing. The children have been reunited with their families pending the conclusion of the probe.
