Air Peace Honoured for Foiling Child Trafficking Attempt

One of the highlights of the 27th edition of the Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria (CRAN) annual lecture and awards, in Lagos was the honoring of Air Peace’s Crew for thwarting efforts by two women to traffic a three-month old boy from Lagos to Banjul.

Sunday Odita, President, Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria (CRAN) said at the presentation: “We are elated as reporters to observe in the course of our duties that some people are doing things worthy of writing home about. When we noted that an Air Peace Crew demonstrated commendable professionalism and humanness by frustrating the attempt by two women to traffic a three-month old babyboy on a Lagos-Banjul flight on June 4, 2018, we penned it down as something worthy of reward.

The CRAN President commended his members “for unanimously voting to bestow the Most Security Conscious Crew Award on Air Peace Crew, when it was tabled before the house for voting.” This he added, shows that the honour is well deserved and well thought out.

Calling on people from all walks of life to emulate the uprightness demonstrated by the Air Peace Crew, he encouraged the winners to “be proud of the award because it is coming unsolicited from the conscience of the society.”

An elated, Stanley Olisa, Corporate Communications Executive, Air Peace, thanked the executives and national leadership of Crime Correspondents and noted that the airline trains its cabin crew to be security conscious. “It has proved worthwhile as the airline had in recent times prevented three acts of child trafficking. Our flight attendants are always security conscious and we will continue to partner with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIPS, to report any suspected act of child trafficking”, he noted.

Recounting how the incident happened, Olisa stated that, “One of the flight attendants noticed that a baby was crying endlessly on board and approached the supposed mother who refused to breastfeed the child. The whole thing became suspicious and on arriving Banjul, the crew alerted the authorities who questioned the two women. It was subsequently discovered that the child was not theirs and it was obviously a case of child trafficking”.

The crew that received the award included Capt. Isi Eghoghon, Capt. Sinmisola Ajibola and First Officer Ayodeji Bode- Thomas.