Metro

Ondo Police Bust Child Trafficking Syndicate, Rescue 4-Year-Old Girl

The Ondo State Police Command has dismantled a child trafficking network operating across Ondo, Delta, and Anambra states, rescuing a four-year-old girl in the process.

Police spokesperson Olayinka Ayanlade said the child, reported missing on February 3, 2025, by her father, Sunday Kingsley of Alagbaka Extension, Akure, vanished while in the care of her mother, Happiness Sunday.

“The case was transferred to the Monitoring Unit at the State Command Headquarters for further investigation,” Ayanlade explained. “Following court proceedings at the Family Magistrate Court, the child’s mother, Happiness Sunday, and Nneka Onah were arrested at the Ondo Correctional Centre and later granted bail.”

A breakthrough came on July 9, 2025, when the father reported that his daughter had been sighted in Asaba, Delta State. Acting swiftly, detectives from the Command’s Gender Desk Team recovered the child and returned her safely to Akure.

Further investigations led to the arrest of Amaka Chukwuemeka, 30, who admitted purchasing the child for N3.7 million. She implicated her friend, Chinaza Owoh, 38, and Mabel Esimai, 58, who had handed over the child under the pretense of adoption with forged documents. Interrogation of Esimai revealed that the child was originally handed over by Chioma Okechukwu, 37, to find a buyer.

“This operation has exposed a well-organised trafficking syndicate spanning three states,” the police statement said. Commissioner of Police Lawal Adebowale commended the Gender Desk Team for their professionalism and urged them to continue investigations to identify all collaborators.

This case follows another major rescue in January, when three suspects were arrested for kidnapping 14 children, including 10 toddlers, and selling them to a fake orphanage operator in Anambra State.

Olayinka Babatunde