By Our Reporter
OWERRI (PRECISE POST) – In a major breakthrough in the fight against child trafficking, operatives of the Imo State Police Command have uncovered two separate trafficking cases, arrested several suspects, and rescued two minors from criminal syndicates.
According to a statement released on the official X handle of the Imo State Police Command signed by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Okoye Henry, the first incident occurred on August 12, 2025, when police operatives on routine stop-and-search duty along the Owerri–Port Harcourt Road intercepted a couple traveling with a four-year-old boy identified only as Isaiah.
The suspects, 46-year-old Ezekwere Ngozi from Enugu State and her husband, 43-year-old Monday Atodo from Kogi State, falsely claimed the child was their biological son.
Further investigation revealed that the boy had been stolen in Kogi State by one Blessing Ogwo and handed over to Ngozi in Abuja, whose role was to deliver trafficked children to potential buyers.
The probe led to the arrest of the alleged mastermind, 56-year-old Ogochukwu Chikwelu, operator of the so-called St. Theresa’s Orphanage in Lokogoma, Abuja.
She was apprehended through a joint operation between Imo State operatives and the State Criminal Investigation Department, and has been transferred to Owerri for further investigation and prosecution.
The rescued child is in safe custody, and efforts are underway to locate and reunite him with his biological parents. The Command is also intensifying efforts to arrest other fleeing members of the trafficking syndicate.
In a separate operation on July 16, 2025, police arrested 29-year-old Precious Okoh in the Umuguma Housing Area of Owerri. She was found with a 9-year-old girl, Promise Christopher, who was abducted from Igbogene in Bayelsa State.
Okoh confessed that she brought the child to Owerri for sale. The police successfully traced Promise’s parents in Bayelsa, and she has since been reunited with her family.
Commending the operatives for their professionalism, the Commissioner of Police, CP Aboki Danjuma, reiterated the Command’s zero-tolerance stance on child trafficking.
He urged the public to remain vigilant and provide credible information to help protect children and other vulnerable members of society.
