Nigeria, Gambia probe trafficking of 3-month old baby to Banjul
Two women are under investigation by the Nigerian and Gambian authorities over allegation of trafficking of a three-month old baby boy on an Air Peace flight from Lagos to Banjul, the Gambian capital.
Sources said the suspects were exposed mid-flight last Monday when the Air Peace’s crew members noticed a baby crying uncontrollably while one of them who claimed to be the baby’s mother was unable to calm him.
The crew members had asked her to breastfeed the baby in order to stop him from crying but the woman, instead, demanded for water.
It was at this point that the crew began to suspect the woman even as the baby’s cry persisted.
The crew summoned the alleged traffickers to the back of the aircraft for questioning.
They allegedly told the crew members that the baby was a child from a surrogacy arrangement.
Dissatisfied with the alleged mother’s response, the crew notified Air Peace team at the Banjul International Airport in The Gambia of the development. When the flight landed in Banjul, Air Peace staff accosted the two alleged traffickers.
It was further gathered that when the two women were separately questioned, they gave conflicting accounts of how they came about the baby prompting the Air Peace staff to call for the intervention of Banjul International Airport (BIA) Police Station in The Gambia and the suspected traffickers were arrested.
Another source disclosed that medical tests conducted by security operatives in Banjul showed no relationship between the baby and the woman who claimed to be his mother.
The two women later claimed that the baby was being taken to his father in Banjul. The alleged father, it was gathered, told security operatives that the baby was his but could not prove it to the police in Banjul.
Security operatives in Banjul asked the father to undertake a DNA test to prove his claim. The alleged father told the police that the DNA test would be conducted in Nigeria, it was learnt.
A source said the police in The Gambia were still investigating the matter to secure enough evidence to charge the suspects to court. The baby, another source said, had since been transferred to SOS Child Care Centre in Bakothe in The Gambia for proper care pending conclusion of investigation.
Air Peace Corporate Communications Manager, Mr. Chris Iwarah confirmed the incident, saying the matter was being investigated by security agencies in Nigeria and The Gambia.