The police in Bauchi state have arrested a 49-year-old father accused of attempting to sell his five-year-old daughter for N1.5 million.

The state Commissioner of Police, Auwal Muhammad, disclosed this on Thursday in Bauchi at a news conference.

Mr Muhammad said the suspect, who claimed to be a staff of Warji Local Government Council, was arrested for alleged child trafficking.

According to the CP, the girl’s father went to take her from her mother, who had separated from him, on the pretext of taking her to his sister in Bauchi.

Mr Muhammad said the father committed the offence on May 26, but unknown to him, the supposed buyer of the child was a police detective.

“The defendant was arrested in a hotel in Bauchi after he bargained for N1.5 million to give up his biological daughter,” the CP said.

According to him, the father also gave N40,000 to the person who linked him to the supposed buyer.

He said the suspect would be charged to court upon completion of the investigation for the established offence.

Mr Muhammad also said the command had arrested a suspected member of a gang who murdered six corps members during the post-presidential election violence in 2011 in Giade LGA of the state.

The CP gave the names of the deceased corps members as Nkwazema Anslem from Imo State, Adewumi Paul, Ekiti State, Okpokiri Obinna, Abia, Teidi Tosin, Kogi, Adewei Elliot, Bayelsa and Ukeoma Chibuzor from Imo State.

He said the suspect and his gang members, after the announcement of the presidential election result, armed with dangerous weapons, also stormed the Giade Divisional Police Headquarters and attacked one Rifkatu Bappa, a policewoman.

The CP said the policewoman sustained various degrees of injuries and was evacuated to the Federal Medical Centre, Azare, where she was confirmed dead by a medical doctor.

“The gang also attacked and broke into shops of traders and carted away valuables, further causing a breakdown of law and order.

“After a manhunt for a decade, the suspect has been arrested, and the investigation is ongoing,” he said.

Mr Muhammad said that after the conclusion of the investigation, the suspect would be arraigned in court.

 (NAN)