Police officer | File photo
The Anambra police command says its operatives have arrested a 63-year-old woman suspected of running an interstate child trafficking syndicate.
In a statement on Tuesday, Tochukwu Ikenga, police spokesperson in Anambra, said the suspect, Ngozi Muotuanya, was arrested on August 11, following credible intelligence.
Ikenga said a preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect in 2024 allegedly stole a one-year-old boy in Minna, Niger state, and sold him to a buyer in Anambra.
The police spokesperson said Muotuanya reportedly resold the child to another person, who later returned him after discovering he had been stolen, prompting the suspect to abandon the boy at a church in Minna.
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“On August 4, 2025, the receiver, upon realising the child had been stolen, returned him to the principal suspect,” the statement reads.
“The suspect, in turn, allegedly abandoned the child at an unknown church in Minna, where he was rescued by the leader of the Igbo community in the area.”
Ikenga said details about the child’s current custodian in Minna have been shared with the Niger state command for possible recovery and reunification with his parents.
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He added that the suspect would be transferred to the state criminal investigation department in Awka for further investigation and prosecution.
