Ugandan Police Arrest 3 Over Purchase Of Baby For South Sudanese Trafficker

Police in Uganda arrested three people Tuesday on allegations of attempting to buy a baby for a South Sudanese trafficker, local media reported.

A medical doctor and two other people were taken into custody after being reportedly caught red-handed in the transaction.

"We have arrested two people who are part of a group which buys babies and sells them to people in South Sudan," Charles Twine, a spokesman for Uganda's Criminal Investigations Directorate, said at a press conference in the capital Kampala.

He said they laid a trap to arrest the two after obtaining intelligence information that there was a woman who was about to sell her three- month-old baby to a South Sudanese woman through the two dealers. He identified the arrested as Gerald Akankwasa, Kenneth Kayondo and Christine Nambi. The buyer, identified as Monika Akello, reportedly fled.

Twine said they have information that babies bought from Uganda are taken to South Sudan for ritual sacrifices.

Due to biting poverty in Uganda, some parents have started selling their babies to wealthy South Sudanese. -