The traders in Amaraku market in the Isiala Mbano council area of Imo state were thrown into shock on Friday following the stealing of a 7-month-old baby by a suspected child traffic syndicate. The incident caused pandemonium within the area, leading to panic as the residents continued to assist in the search for the missing child. An eyewitness, a woman and a trader, who pleaded anonymity, narrated the incident. According to her, the suspected child trafficker targeted a crying baby wrapped on her mother’s back, who was a trader selling her foodstuff in her shop. The suspect approached the woman and offered to assist her in carrying the crying baby, even collecting a wrapper from the mother. However, while the mother was still selling her wares, the suspected child trafficker disappeared with the baby to an unknown location.
The eyewitness recounted, “I was buying some foodstuff at Amaraku market when a woman started shouting, ‘My baby, my baby, where is my baby?’ She had given her 7-month-old baby out to a stranger while she was selling Okro and other vegetables because the baby was crying and disturbing. The stranger carried the baby on her back but later disappeared into the crowd. When the woman realized the woman was no longer in sight, she started shouting and crying. Other traders around helped to search for the woman but could not find her. The woman may have been charmed by the stranger because no one in her right senses will release her baby in such an environment with over ten thousand buyers and sellers. What is she going to tell her husband?”
At the time of filing this story, the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) was yet to respond to the inquiry.
