The police in Adamawa has confirmed the rescue of 24 underaged children who were taken away from the state for child labour and other human trafficking purposes.

Sikiru Akande, the Commissioner of Police in the state, said that most of the affected children were indigenes of Adamawa.

He said that the development followed intelligent reports and complaints by some parents in the state.

“We are able to trace some underaged children (boys and girls) who are indigenes of Adamawa state that had been taken for child labour across Nigeria.

“Presently, 24 of them are in our custody; they were rescued from different parts of Nigeria,” he said.

Mr Akande, who said the police lacked facility to care for the rescued children, appealed to the state government for assistance.

He noted that some of the children were rescued from Enugu, Kaduna, Jos and other parts of the country.

He appealed to the public, especially parents whose children were missing, to come to the state command for verification.

The children are aged between seven and 13 years and were both males and females.

Similarly, the command has arrested 33 suspected rapists, kidnappers, armed robbers and culpable homicides, among others, within two weeks.

The commissioner said that five AK 47 rifles, 164 live ammunition, one Toyota Corolla, one Toyota Hilux, one Toyota Starlet and N937,000 cash were recovered from the suspects.

(NAN)