Child traffickers on the prowl

• How kidnappers, ritual killers trick parents to abduct innocent children

By Abubakar Yakubu

If Mama Bright, as she is fondly called, was asked to make a wish, her wish will be for her to be reunited with her daughter who was stolen several years ago when she was only three years old.

The main road leading to Angwandodo in Gwagwalada Area Council of the FCT, where 28 children went missing

The woman who lived at that time behind the Chief’s Palace at Ado in Nasarawa State was said to be an easygoing person who took her Christian religion seriously.

A neighbour, Titus Ibong said Mama Bright became friendly with a woman in church who followed her to her home and was acquainted with her children.

“One day the Bright’s three children were coming back from school when this supposed friend accosted them and told the two eldest ones that their mother asked her to take the three year-old girl to purchase a dress for her at the market and sent the other two children home after buying them biscuits,” Ibong narrated.

He said the matter was reported to the police station at New Karu, adding that the girl has not being seen till date and Mama Bright had to pack out of the community to an unknown area for the safety of the other two children.

Amina, another mother, was however lucky as the police quickly responded to her distress report on her missing four year-old daughter.

She said while in Lafia at Nasarawa State, her residence was very close to a police station and she believed the area was very safe until one day when one of her female neighbours who was friendly with her child and her decided to strike.

“Whenever I wanted to go to the market, I normally left my child with her and the child became familiar with her.

“One day the woman took my daughter for a stroll in the afternoon and when it was 6 pm and I couldn’t see them, I became worried and went to the police station to report and the policemen over there radioed other police formations within the state capital and at 10 am the following morning, the woman was apprehended while on transit with my child, during a police check and stop operation along Akwanga,” she said

Amina said during interrogation, her neighbour said she was only taking the child with her somewhere and wasn’t stealing her.

Some parents residing at Angwandodo in Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are still hopeful that the police in the FCT will help them recover their missing children.

Their case was aired during a popular radio and television programme called ‘Berekette Family’ which was monitored by our reporter last year.

The leader of the missing parents’ group, during the programme, claimed that about 28 children were abducted from their community and he said one Madam Success, who was at the time the women leader of the community, was arrested in a vehicle with two missing children from the community at Zuba, while in transit to Port Harcourt.

The suspect was immediately transferred to FCT Police Command where detectives from the criminal investigation department took over investigation.

During police investigation, Saturday Sun learnt that she used two underage children in her home, Uche, a 13-year-old boy and Amanda, a girl to lure the children with biscuit and sweet to a store in the area, before they were abducted.

The FCT Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent Josephine Adeh, acknowledged the arrest of Madam Success and two other women as suspects. She said investigation revealed that they were delivering the children to one ‘Queen Mother’, who she said is presently at large.

The spokesperson further disclosed that six children have been recovered and reunited with their parents, adding that investigation was still ongoing at that time.

One of the lucky mothers who were reunited with their children was Talatu Francis, a middle-aged mother and petty trader, whose three year-old son, was whisked away while sleeping in a friend’s apartment during a wedding ceremony.

When she reported the matter at the Police Station in Gwagwalada, she was arrested and accused of selling her child until the chief of the community stood as surety for her.

Another lucky mother was a woman referred to as Mama Anayo, who became friendly with a new tenant in her compound at Masaka in Nasarawa State.

She said on the first day the lady packed into the compound, she came with a man who looked responsible, whom she introduced as her husband.

“Inside the self-contained apartment, the couple only had a mattress and a television set and we all believed that gradually they will furnish their apartment.

“The next thing I know was that the man and his wife picked interest in my eight-month-old son and they started buying him items like baby food, milk and toys, which made me lose my guide and allowed them to be close to the baby,” she said.

She said the woman would sometimes come to her apartment to carry and play with the child, adding that on several occasions she would take him to her own apartment and later bring him back.

“One Saturday morning, I was busy doing cleanup in my apartment and this lady came to play with Anayo and took him to her room while I continued what I was doing for about two hours.

“After finishing I left for the neighbour’s apartment to carry my child so that I could breastfeed him and was surprised when I opened the door and didn’t meet anyone,” she recalled.

She said immediately the feeling of her child being abducted struck her as she called the lady’s phone lines, which were switched off.

“I immediately raised an alarm which drew other residents of the community to her compound and later the case was reported to the police who entered the suspect’s apartment and discovered there was only a mattress and an old television set,” she narrated.

According to her, the saving grace was that the woman, while in a hurry to flee, had dropped one of her SIM cards by the side of the mattress, which the police used to track her down to Lagos, where she was arrested. She said the suspect later took the detectives to the woman she sold the child to, who was also arrested and the baby recovered and reunited with her.

In Ondo State, a mother of an 18-month-old boy and restaurant owner (names withheld) early last month reported to the police at Okuta Elerin-Nla Division in Akure that her child was missing.

In her narration to the police, she alleged that a man who called himself Samuel Adejobi and a woman, Ewatomi came to her restaurant to eat and introduced themselves as siblings.

She said while the man engaged her in a discussion, the sister started playing with her child and took him out to buy biscuits for him.

The lady disclosed further that the man distracted her by asking her to follow him to Olukayode Plaza, so that he can purchase a phone for her, adding that upon reaching the plaza, the man disappeared.

The state Police Commissioner, Wilfred Afolabi, said immediately the mother reported the incident, the suspects were traced to Ottah Village in Edo State through intelligence policing and arrested.

He said the police discovered that Samuel Adejobi’s real name was Lukman Isiaka, while his supposed sister Ewatomi was Abosede Olanipekun..

“During interrogation the suspects admitted to abducting the child and other children from Ondo and Osun States and selling them to one Sabira Izuorah, a 62-year-old woman from Ihiala in Anambra State, at the rate of N1million per child,” the police commissioner said.

He said Sabira was eventually arrested in Ihiala and 14 babies recovered from her.

The police boss named the recovered children as baby Favour (female, three weeks old); Baby Chidera (female, two weeks old); Baby Chinyere (female, two months and five days old); Baby Uzoma (male, one week old).

He said on January 14, 2025, 10 children sold by Mrs. Izuorah were also rescued from various locations, and have been reunited by their parents.

The commissioner again named the other set of recovered children as Dauda Alarape (male, three and half); Babalola David (male, four years); Asaolu Pamilerin (seven years); Ayomide Abass (male, two years, stolen from Orita-Obele, Akure); Komolafe Oluwasekemi (female, four years, stolen from Igado, Ilesha); Adedeji Olalekan (male, six and half years); Ahmed Abdulrasaq (male, five and half years, stolen from Ibodi Town, Osun State); Mary Wuraola (female, two years, stolen from Ilesha, Osun State); Mubarak Akinwunmi (male, six years, stolen from Osogbo, Osun State); Unknown child (name/parents yet to be identified, stolen from Osun State).

He said there are still missing children and revealed that efforts are ongoing to locate and rescue them, while the suspects will be charged to court at the end of the investigation.

The Force Public Relations Officer, Asst. Commissioner Olumuyiwa Adejobi, on January 6 disclosed how police operatives apprehended a child-trafficking syndicate allegedly led by one Pastor Dayo Bernard in Bukuru, Plateau State.

He said the police operation led to the rescue of five children between the ages of two and four years, who he said were abducted from their homes in Jos, Plateau State.

The police spokesman disclosed that also arrested as alleged members of the syndicate were three females, Rita Agboeze, Victoria Ugwu’, Nanman Puntel , and a male called Peter Ukwuani

“Upon interrogation, the principal suspect confessed to have abducted and sold 13 children at varying prices, all of whom have been recovered by the police and reunited with their families through the Plateau State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development,” he disclosed.

Reacting to the activities of children traffickers, a security expert, retired superintendent of police, Ibrahim Onipe, blamed the rise on the desperation of childless women, who are prepared to spend as much as possible in order to get a child from any means.

He cautioned such women to seek the process of adoption through recognised government social welfare agencies instead of buying children from criminals and face police arrest, which will be embarrassing.

The retired policemen also advised landlords to ensure their agents get detailed personal information from prospective tenants that should be verified before the apartments are let out.

He advised parents to be close to their children as well, so as to discourage them from accepting gifts or food items from strangers.

“In fact mothers should be wary of unknown people who want to get close to their children and prevent such relationship by telling their wards not to talk to strangers,” he said.