Three workers have allegedly attempted to traffic their employer’s two-year-old child in Ogoja, Cross River State, after claiming they were owed several months’ salaries, according to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

The incident reportedly occurred in Ogberia Ochoro community, where the suspects allegedly took the child and attempted to move him to another location for sale.

Oba Joseph, Head of Operations at NAPTIP’s Cross River Command, disclosed the incident in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar on Thursday, August 27.

Joseph said the agency received a report about the incident on Monday and moved to investigate.

According to him, the suspects told investigators that they had worked for their employer for about three months without receiving their wages.

“They claimed they decided to traffic the child as revenge and to recover the money they said they were owed,” Joseph said.

However, the employer reportedly disputed the workers’ claim, telling NAPTIP that he had paid them and only owed them for August, which had not yet ended at the time of the incident.

The alleged plan reportedly came to an abrupt end when a farmer returning from the farm noticed the suspects moving with the child and became suspicious.

Joseph said the farmer questioned them, prompting one of the suspects to allegedly claim that the two-year-old was his child.

Unsatisfied with the explanation, the farmer raised an alarm, leading to the suspects’ arrest after they had reportedly crossed about four communities with the child.

NAPTIP said investigations are ongoing and that the suspects will be prosecuted after the investigation is concluded.

The agency is also working to establish the suspects’ actual ages, which could affect how the case is handled.

Joseph said community records listed the suspects as 18, 19 and 27 years old. However, the suspects reportedly told NAPTIP that they were 16, 17 and 25.

The agency has therefore contacted their parents to help verify their ages.

According to Joseph, if the younger ages are confirmed, some of the suspects could be treated as children in conflict with the law, which may affect the legal process and how the court handles the case.

He stressed, however, that their ages would not change the substance of the allegation: the two-year-old was allegedly taken with the intention of trafficking him.

The ongoing investigation is expected to determine the appropriate prosecution process for each suspect.