Ogun Police Arrests Man For Selling Wife, Son

A man, Kingsley Essien, has been arrested by the Ogun State Police Command for the alleged sale of his wife and son.

The 36-year-old suspect, Kingsley Essien, it was gathered, hid under the pretext of securing a job for his wife, Bright, in Bamako, the capital of Mali and coerced her into embarking on the journey.

This was made known by the Police Police Relations Officer (PPRO), Ogun Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi on Thursday.

Oyeyemi revealed that Essien's wife thought it was a good deal since it was initiated by her husband.

"Sometime in October 2021, her husband, Kingsley Essien, informed her that he had secured a job for her in Bamako, Mali, and that he had assisted several people to that country for greener pastures.

"The woman swallowed the bait hook, line and sinker, unknown to her that she had been sold to a cartel of human traffickers for N1.4 million.

"She explained further that, being her husband, she didn't suspect any foul play until she got to Mali only to discover that she had been sold to a human trafficking cartel, headed by a woman, at the rate of one million four hundred thousand naira (N1,400,000)

"While the woman was in Mali, leaving their two-year-old son in his father's (Kinsley) custody, the suspect again, disposed of the little boy for N600,000.

"While in Mali, she was forced into prostitution, but later found her way to the Nigerian Embassy in Bamako, where she was assisted back to Nigeria.

"On getting to Nigeria, she discovered that her two-year-old son, left in the care of her husband, was no where to be found.

"Kingsley's devilish act blew open as his wife returned to Nigeria and lodged a complaint bordering on human trafficking against her husband at Agbara Police Station," Oyeyemi said.

He added  that on that basis, the DPO, Abiodun Salau, detailed his detectives to go after the suspect, and he was eventually arrested.

The suspect was said to have confessed to committing the crime, even as he owned up to selling their little son for N600,000.

Meanwhile, the state Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, has ordered the transfer of the suspect to the Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Labour Unit of the state Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for discreet investigation.

The CP also ordered the tracking and arrest of the person to whom the boy was sold, so as to recover him.