How Police Busted 8 Members Of Notorious Child Trafficking Syndicate & Recovered 5 Children 

MICHAEL AKINOLA 

Operatives from the Zone 2 Police Command, Onikan, Lagos State, have busted a child trafficking syndicate and rescued five stolen children from different parts of Nigeria.

P.M.EXPRESS reports that suspects included, Ibezim Chioma Rita, Sunday Ochim, Sunday Okputu, Sunday Faith, Chinaza Echelibe, Ifekwuna Ngozi, Nwakuba Helen, and Bada Adeniyi.

The Police also recovered children, aged between one and six years old from various locations across the country.

This was disclosed by the Assistant Inspector General of Police AIG, Zone 2 Command, Mr. Adegoke Fayoade, who confirmed the arrest of the suspects.

He stated that eight suspected members of the gang, including 22-year-old Faith Sunday, who sold her biological son, have since been arrested by operatives of the Zone 2 Police Command.

The syndicate reportedly specialised in stealing and selling newborn babies, toddlers, and children of different ages.
The Police also uncovered how members of the syndicate stole a one-week-old baby, Marvellous Obi, and sold him to an Italy-based couple.

AIG Fayoade, while briefing newsmen, stated that the recovery of the babies and the arrest of the suspects were made possible through collaboration between the Police, other security and government agencies.

AIG Fayoade, who was represented by DCP Ajao, identified the recovered children as one-year-old Marvellous Obi, Promise Ifekwuna, Somtochukwu Onyemaechi, Chibuzor Nma Onyemaechi, and Praise Chukwudi Ibezim.

According to the Police, “On January 8, 2025, an intelligence report on the activities of a notorious child trafficking syndicate was received by the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 2 Police Command headquarters, Onikan, Lagos”.

“The intelligence revealed that this syndicate specialized in buying and selling newborn babies, toddlers, and children of different ages.”

The Police further stated, “The syndicate comprises one Sunday Okputu as the supplier of the children, Ibezim Chioma, who served as a middle person and canvassed for buyers, and also a caregiver, Chinaza Echelibe, employed by the syndicate to provide care for the children before their onward delivery to prospective buyers”.

“The Police team, led by CSP Ngozi Braide, has so far recovered a total of five children, who had been bought and trafficked at different times.”

“These children’s real identities had been altered by the traffickers, who changed their names as soon as the buying and selling were completed,” the AIG said.

“There is a case of a baby, Marvellous Obi, who is one year old but was sold to Mrs. Ibezim Chioma when he was barely a week old.”

“Another case is that of one-year-old Somtochukwu Onyemaechi, who was painfully sold by his biological mother, 22-year-old Faith Sunday, to an unknown individual through Ibezim Chioma and the supplier, Sunday Okputu.”

“The baby was sold for N1,500,000 (one million five hundred thousand Naira) to someone residing in Alausa, Ikeja, but was eventually recovered in Owerri, Imo State, on January 29, 2025.”

Faith Sunday, while speaking with journalists, confessed to the crime but blamed poverty and her inability to care for the baby for her actions.
She also admitted that she made the decision without the consent of the child’s father, whom she accused of abandoning them without proper care.

The Police stated that the suspects will be charged before the Court for the alleged offence under the Criminal Laws of the State but that will be after the conclusion of investigations by the Police.