Friday, August 22, 2025 - Operatives of the Imo State Police Command have uncovered two separate child trafficking cases, arrested the suspects involved, and rescued two children from the hands of traffickers.
According to the police, on August 12, operatives of the
Command, while on routine stop and search along the Owerri–Port Harcourt Road,
intercepted a couple identified as 46-year-old Ezekwere Ngozi ‘F’ of Udi LGA,
Enugu State, resident in Abuja, and her husband 43-year-old Monday Atodo ‘M’ of
Ofu LGA, Kogi State, resident in Kogi State.
They were found with a four-year-old boy, Isaiah (surname
unknown), whom they falsely claimed was their biological child.
‘’Interrogation
revealed that the child was stolen in Kogi State by one Blessing Ogwo and
handed over in Abuja to Ngozi, whose role was to deliver trafficked children to
buyers. Further investigation uncovered the syndicate’s mastermind, 56-year-old
Ogochukwu Chikwelu ‘f’, of Nimo, Anambra State, and resident in Abuja, who
operates St. Theresa’s Orphanage at Apo Street, Lokogoma. She was tracked,
arrested in Abuja through a joint operation with the State CID, and transferred
to Owerri for further investigation and prosecution.''
Okoye mentioned that the rescued child is safe, and efforts
are ongoing to reunite him with his biological parents, as the command calls on
members of the public with useful information to assist in this regard. The
command is also intensifying efforts to apprehend other members of the
syndicate still at large.
Similarly, on July 16, operatives of the Command, acting on
credible intelligence, arrested one Precious Okoh, 29, of Nkanu-East LGA, Enugu
State, at Umuguma Housing Area, Owerri, with a 9-year-old girl, Promise
Christopher. She confessed that the child was stolen from Igbogene, Bayelsa
State, and brought to Owerri for sale. The operatives traced the parents to
Bayelsa, and the child has since been reunited with her parent.
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