Wednesday, October 21, 2026 -A woman arrested in connection with an alleged child trafficking operation in Abuja has admitted receiving ₦250,000 for each child she brought, saying she was told the money was compensation.
The suspect made the admission during an interview with
journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, in which she also acknowledged returning to
the activity after an earlier arrest and imprisonment.
Asked why she returned to the business, the woman said she
had been persuaded that the arrangement was intended to help children found
roaming the streets by providing them with shelter and education.
“She said it’s not that she’s helping, that government she
has government approval, that is only children that is roaming around the
street that don’t have help, that she have school, they can train them for
school,” she said.
The interviewer challenged her account, reminding her that
she had earlier identified a woman known as Madam Nkechi as the person who
introduced her to the operation.
The suspect subsequently clarified that she was the one who
introduced the woman, but confirmed that the woman later contacted her and
suggested that she return to the business.
When asked how much she received for each child, she
replied, “She gave me 250. 250,000 naira.”
The interviewer confronted her with an earlier claim that ₦1.5m was involved. The suspect
explained that the amount was to be shared among several people, including the
woman she identified as her contact.
She also maintained that she was told the payment was
compensation, although she could not explain what the compensation was for when
the interviewer questioned her.
Asked to consider how she would feel if someone received
compensation for taking her own child, the suspect confirmed that she was also
a mother.
The woman further disclosed that she had been arrested the
previous year after taking a child. According to her, the matter went to court
several times, but the complainant did not appear.
She said she was eventually allowed to go home after the
child was recovered from her.
“That was the first assignment she gave me,” the suspect
said.
Her account forms part of an ongoing investigation by the
Federal Capital Territory Police Command into alleged child abduction and
trafficking in Abuja.
The police paraded suspects linked to the investigation on
Tuesday, following further arrests and the recovery of a five-year-old girl
whose biological family has yet to be identified.
Police have appealed to members of the public to help locate
the child’s relatives, with claims of parentage requiring verification.
Some suspects reportedly alleged that they were recruited by
a woman known as Madam Nkechi and promised payments for bringing children
described to them as orphans or children found on the streets.
Some also claimed they encountered the recruiter at a church
in Lugbe, Abuja.
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