A man wanted for questioning in relation to the suspected human sacrifice killing of a young child in the UK will appear before the High Court today after being arrested in Tallaght, Co Dublin, yesterday.
The 37-year-old Nigerian national was arrested by gardaí who have been working on the case with detectives from New Scotland Yard.
The gruesome child killing in 2001 attracted massive international media attention with former South African president Mr Nelson Mandela and the Arsenal footballer, Nwankwo Kanu, both making appeals for information to help catch those responsible.
Yesterday's arrest was carried out on foot of a German extradition warrant and the man is to appear before the High Court today for extradition proceedings.
The man was convicted in Germany in his absence, in March 2001, of forgery, claiming residence and trafficking-linked crimes.
He was arrested just before 4 p.m. at a house in Tallaght. He had been living at the address for several months with a number of other people, some of whom were thought to be family members.
The house was searched for several hours and a number of items were taken away for examination. The man was taken to Tallaght Garda station for questioning, where he remained last night.
Gardaí and New Scotland Yard confirmed British detectives were anxious to speak to the man in connection with the discovery of the torso of a male child in the River Thames, London, in September 2001.
The child was never identified but the torso is believed to have been that of a male aged between four and seven. He was given the name Adam.
A post-mortem revealed he died from a massive trauma to the neck and that he had been in the Thames for up to 10 days before his remains were discovered.
In the months after the discovery of "Adam's" torso British detectives said they were satisfied the boy had come Nigeria.
Forensic work on the remains revealed the boy was from a 100- mile by 50-mile corridor of south-west Nigeria. Pollen samples found in the child's stomach indicated he was alive when he reached the UK and died some time later.
Police officers from the UK visited a number of locations in Nigeria in an effort to ascertain the boy's identity.
In July 2002 a Nigerian woman was arrested in connection with the murder, close to her home in Glasgow. The woman, in her 30s, was released on police bail but was later sent back to Nigeria.
Yesterday's arrest came after British officers had gone to both Germany and Glasgow, as well as Nigeria.
