From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
The Nigeria Police in Kano have handed over the sevenrescued minors to the Kano State Government for further collaborative actions.
A statement by the Public Relations Officer of the Command, Abdullahi Umar Haruna, on Saturday held that the minors would be handed over to their parents/guardians by the state government.
Kiyawa, a police superintendent, further stated that the police have successfully identified the parents of six of the seven rescued minors.
While appreciating the confidence and friendship extended to the Command, he urged the residents of the state report any suspicious movement of persons or items to the nearest police station
Receiving the minors at the Government House, Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf appreciated the police for their efforts in rescuing the minors and for ensuring that the state remained peaceful.
He denoted the sum of N500,000:00 to each of the parents of the rescued minors while assuring that the state government would liaise with its Bauchi counterparts to provide the necessary support and assistance to the affected families.
He also pledged the state would seek justice for the victims of the crime.
It would be recalled that on December 15th, the police arrested a Lagos bound suspect at the Mamariri Luxury bus park in the state capital with a minor. Subsequent investigations led to the arrest of a total of nine suspects, some of whom had been living in various parts of the country with the minors who were largely abducted from Bauchi.
However some of the suspects, while speaking to the press at the Bompai headquarters of the command, where they were paraded insisted that they were innocent of the fact that the minors they had abducted were stolen
They added that they were misled by one Madam Ruth (the principal trafficker who is resident in Bauchi State) into believing that the minors they had abducted were legitimately sourced and released from an orphanage home in Bauchi State.