Gabriel Okon Ekpiri, a local of the state’s Ekit Itam Akpan Obong community in the Itu Local Government Area, has been detained by the Akwa Ibom 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 confessed to the crime while being questioned and laid the blame for it on the devil and the nation’s economic woes.
“The Commissioner of Police of 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 statement said in part.The CP condemned the conduct as being barbarous and wholly reprehensible, and the suspect who was detained by the Command’s swift intervention squad admitted to the crime while attributing it to the devil and financial difficulty.
The two Deputy Commissioners of Police, DCP Lawal Isa Mani, Department of Operations, and DCP Baba Lawan Audu, Area Commander, Eket Area Command, have both received awards from the Police Commissioner.
The CP congratulated the officers warmly on behalf of Olukayode Egbetokun, the acting inspector general of police, and tasked them with doubling their production capacity while performing their deputizing duties.
In a separate interview with journalists, the delighted senior officers expressed their gratitude to the Police Service Commission and Inspector General of Police for considering them deserving of promotions as well as their commitment to the Command.
Mismob Media