Gabriel Okon Ekpiri, a local of Ekit Itam Akpan Obong community in the Itu Local Government Area of Akwa-Ibom, has been detained by the State Police Command for allegedly selling his nine-year-old kid for the sum of N400,000.
The state capital of Uyo, where the command’s public relations officer, Odiko Macdon, made the announcement, said the suspect was apprehended by the command’s Quick Intervention Squad.
According to Macdon, the suspect admitted to the crime while being questioned and blamed the devil and the nation’s economic woes for it.
The statement read in part, “The Commissioner of Police Akwa Ibom State, Olatoye Durusinmi, has condemned the action of one Gabriel Okon Ekpiri of Ekit Itam Akpan Obong in Itu Local Government Area, who sold his nine-year-old son for N400,000.
“The CP noted that the act was barbaric and totally unacceptable, and the suspect who was arrested by the quick Intervention Squad of the Command has confessed to the crime while blaming the devil and economic hardship for his actions.”
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police has decorated two Deputy Commissioners of Police DCP Baba Lawan Audu, Area Commander, Eket Area Command, and DCP Lawal Isa Mani, Department of Operations.
The CP, while conveying the hearty congratulations of the Acting Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, to the officers, charged them to double their productivity capacity while playing their deputizing roles.
The elated senior officers, in their separate interview with journalists, thanked the Police Service Commission, and the Inspector General of Police for finding them worthy of being promoted and pled their hard work and dedication towards the Command.
