By Olayemi Esan
In a quiet compound in Uruagu, Nnewi, the cries of children echoed not in play, but in fear—eleven young lives, aged just 3 to 6, stolen from their homes in Adamawa and hidden hundreds of kilometers away, victims of a growing web of child trafficking disguised as adoption.
Their rescue came not by chance, but through a coordinated and intelligence-driven operation carried out by detectives of the Anambra State Criminal Investigation Department, working in concert with counterparts from Adamawa State Police Command.
Behind the operation was a grim discovery: a 43-year-old woman, Uche Okoye, believed to be a key figure in a cross-state syndicate trafficking in stolen children. According to police investigations, the children—five boys and six girls—were abducted in Adamawa and sold to unsuspecting individuals under the pretext of adoption. Each boy, police said, fetched N1.5 million. The girls, N800,000.
These were not just numbers. These were sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, snatched from their families, confused, scared, and likely unaware of how far from home they had been taken.
According to Police Public Relations Officer Anambra State Police Command, Awka, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, it was a major breakthrough in a crisis that often hides in plain sight.
The children, rescued from their captor, have since been handed over to Assistant Commissioner of Police Shuaibu Wara, who led the Adamawa team. His job now: the painful but urgent task of reuniting these children with their real families—assuming they can be found.
Each reunion, if it happens, will be a moment of hope. But the trauma, both for the children and their parents, may last a lifetime.
Speaking on the case, Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, CP Ikioye Uche Orutugu, praised the efforts of his officers and those from Adamawa for their swift and decisive action. He also issued a stern warning to members of the public seeking to adopt children: “Do your due diligence. Follow the law. Adoption is a sacred act, not a shortcut or a black-market transaction.”
In Nigeria, child trafficking is a silent epidemic, often cloaked in poverty, desperation, and the failure of systems meant to protect the vulnerable. Syndicates exploit gaps in legal processes and the long waitlists for child adoption, preying on the hopes of childless couples and the helplessness of poor families.
This case—chilling in its details—serves as a reminder that behind every statistic is a child, a family, a shattered sense of safety. It is also a call to action: for communities to stay vigilant, for authorities to remain relentless, and for citizens to demand justice—not only in courts but in culture.
As the rescued children begin their journey back to whatever normalcy can be restored, Nigerians are once again confronted with a hard truth: that evil often operates in the margins, but hope—when well-coordinated and determined—can still shine through.