Police operatives attached to 3-3 Divisional Headquarters on Friday December 13, 2024 arrested one Alfred Bassey (M) aged 40, and a native of Abi in Cross River State over the tragic loss of his seven- year-old child at a construction site along Trans-Nkisi layout, Onitsha.

Confirming the arrest to newsmen, the Command’s spokesperson, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, said preliminary Investigations by the Police revealed that the father of the victim forcibly took the minor from the mother and has been living with him in an uncompleted building at Trans -Nkisi Layout Onitsha.

“Furthermore, on the 11th December 2024, the lifeless body of the child was found in a soakway pit dug in the abandoned uncompleted building after the suspect left the child for an unknown destination.

The body of the child was later recovered and taken to the hospital before he was confirmed dead.

Ikenga said the state Commissioner of Police CP Nnaghe Obono Itam who saddened by this development, has admonished parents to prioritize the wellbeing of their children against any difference they may have had with their spouse to avoid exposing them to emotional and psychological trauma or death.

He further directed the immediate transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Awka, for more detailed Investigation.