An eagle-eyed crew of Air Peace has foiled an attempt by a middle-aged woman and her collaborators to traffic a three-day-old baby boy through the Port Harcourt Airport to Lagos.
The all female crew comprised of Captain Sinmisola Ajibola, Senior First Officer Onohi Agboighale, Mojoko Ewane, Taiye Abbey, Victoria Ukpiaifo and Ngozi Ezeamaka achieved the feat on Sunday.
africanbusinesstravel.com.ng learnt that the suspect had booked Air Peace Port Harcourt-Lagos Flight P4 7393 on Sunday. However, during boarding, the Lead Crew of the flight, Mojoko Ewane observed that the suspect was handling the baby in an awkward manner and decided to question her.
During her interrogation at the boarding door of the aircraft, the suspect claimed the baby was three days old.
But later she told her interrogators that the baby was born on January 5, a day before her aborted trip. The suspect said she gave birth to the baby shortly after travelling from Lagos to Port Harcourt on an Air Peace flight on January 5.
Our correspondent learnt that calls were later placed to the contact numbers the suspect claimed belonged to her husband and the doctor who delivered her of the child. While the alleged husband claimed that his wife was actually pregnant, the alleged doctor’s number rang unanswered.
However the bubble burst when the crew not convinced by the suspect’s alibi asked her to breastfeed the baby, which she could not do because of no breast milk.
As the investigation progressed, the suspect tried to create a scene, rallying other passengers on the flight to prevail on Air Peace crew to allow her fly, but the crew stood their ground.
When the crew informed the suspect that the carrier’s standard operating procedure barred them from allowing passengers fly with a week-old baby on grounds of health, she claimed to be a nurse and insisted that the baby’s health would not be jeopardised.
The airline, it was gathered, later invited personnel of the Department of State Services (DSS) at the Port Harcourt Airport to take over the case for further investigation.
Air Peace Corporate Communications Manager, Mr. Chris Iwarah who confirmed the incident on Wednesday, said the airline was proud that its crew professionally discharged their responsibility to ensure passengers’ safety and assist government in fighting crime.
A DSS source in Port Harcourt which also confirmed that the suspect had been transferred to the zonal office of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State for further handling.
The source claimed that the suspect confessed that a lady gave her the baby. The DSS source commended Air Peace crew for foiling the attempted child trafficking with their vigilance.
It would be recalled that in June 2018, Air Peace crew also exposed a suspected trafficker of a three-month-old baby on its Lagos-Banjul flight.
