The Niger State Police Command has rescued six children from a human trafficking network that has been operating across parts of the state in recent weeks. A couple linked to the syndicate has also been arrested.
The command said the first rescue took place when officers from the Tafa Division intercepted a man, Usman Adamu, 40, of Sabon-Wuse, who was found moving with four children around Angwan-Katampe. The children were identified as Khalid Ilyasu, 7; Sadiq Ilyasu, 11; Ahmed Ilyasu, 5; and Sadiq Idris, 5, all from Sabon-Wuse.
Witnesses at the scene tried to attack the suspect, but police officers stopped the mob and took both the children and the suspect into protective custody.
The spokesperson for the Niger State Police Command, Superintendent Wasiu Abiodun, confirmed the incident. He said, “During questioning, the suspect claimed that an unknown woman asked him to bring the children and promised to pay him.”
He added that Adamu had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Minna for further investigation while efforts were underway to identify and arrest the woman mentioned.
In a related arrest, police picked up a couple, Leonard Ugochukwu, 55, and his wife, Nhozi Ugochukwu, 45, both residents of Kurudu in Abuja. The couple was found with two children, Goodnews Sunday, 4, and Ummikari Bello, 3.
According to police findings, the children had been sold for N1.1 million each, with an extra N100,000 charged as a registration fee, bringing the total payment to N2.3 million.
Superintendent Abiodun said, “The couple confessed that they got the children through one Okpalaye Mathew Ibrahim, who works in a hospital in the area.”
The command said the arrests followed an earlier case involving a woman, Victoria Ebunoha Chukwumezie, 40, who was caught at Diko Junction with three kidnapped children from Lambata. Further investigation linked her to other cases in Tafa, Suleja, and Madalla, leading officers to the Ugochukwu couple in Kurudu.
Abiodun assured residents that police will continue to track down all members of the trafficking ring. He said, “We are committed to breaking these networks and ensuring the children are safely returned to their families.”
