21 held in hunt for torso boy's killer

DETECTIVES hunting the killer of the "torso in the Thames" victim said yesterday that they had smashed the gang whom they suspected of smuggling the Nigerian boy into the UK.

In a dawn raid, more than 200 officers swooped on nine London addresses and arrested 21 people suspected of people trafficking and immigration offences.

The move could take police a step closer to finding the murderer of the unknown boy, whom police have named Adam, whose mutilated torso was found floating near Tower Bridge in September 2001.

The youngster, aged between four and seven, was believed to have been the victim of a ritualistic sacrifice after being smuggled from Nigeria via Europe.

Commander Andy Baker, of Scotland Yard, said there was a "very strong link" between those arrested and Adam, and that some of the gang were also associated with two people arrested previously in Ireland and Scotland in connection with Adam’s death.

Detective Inspector Will O’Reilly, who leads the inquiry, said: "We are pretty confident that we have a group of individuals who would have trafficked Adam into the country, but our inquiries are still at a very early stage."

Adam is believed to have come from the Benin City area of south-west Nigeria, the same place as many of those arrested, police said.

This month, a Nigerian, Sam Onojhighovie, 37, was questioned by police in Dublin in connection with Adam’s death - officers believe he could be the boy’s father.

He is facing extradition to Germany, where he has already been convicted in his absence and sentenced to seven years for offences linked to human trafficking. Orange shorts found on Adam’s torso can only be bought at branches of Woolworths in Germany.

Onojhighovie is thought to be the estranged husband of Joyce Osagiede, who was arrested in connection with the murder a year ago in Glasgow but was never charged and later returned to Nigeria.

Those arrested in yesterday’s operation will be DNA tested to see if there is any family link with Adam, police said. Det Insp O’Reilly said some "interesting substances" were recovered from one of the addresses, including soils and clay, as well as an animal skull wrapped in a fibrous substance, with a nail through it.

Adam was found with a substance including ground-down bone in his stomach.

"These items obviously have some ritualistic meaning, and we are bringing them back to our experts," he said.

Det Insp O’Reilly said: "We’ve uncovered what we believe is a criminal network concentrating on people trafficking, particularly from mainland Africa through Europe to the UK.

"We don’t know how many children are involved but it’s certainly in the hundreds, if not the thousands, coming from mainland Africa into the UK."