Two children have been saved while two individuals accused of child trafficking and theft have been taken into custody by the Imo State Police Command.
The arrests were made during distinct operations conducted by several command units.
Detectives from the State Criminal Investigation Department, or SCID, detained a 32-year-old woman from Umuanyo Eziobodo, Owerri West LGA, for the kidnapping of her former neighbor’s three-year-old son, Nzubechi Udodiri, according to a press release from the command’s spokesperson, DSP Henry Okoye. While playing in their compound on February 1st, 2025, the child was seized.
During a stop-and-search operation along the Owerri-Aba Expressway, Okoye also revealed that members of the Safer Highway Unit had arrested Eze Chika, 45, a resident of Obiokwara Umualoma, Ideato North LGA, who was discovered in possession of a suspected stolen four-year-old child.
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The suspect in the preliminary investigation first claimed the infant was her own, but she eventually acknowledged paying N1.8 million to a suspected child trafficking syndicate in Aba for the youngster.
In an effort to avoid being arrested, the suspect offered the officers a bribe of N1 million, but it was turned down, Okoye continued.
The authorities ensured the child’s safe rescue and carried out the legal arrest. Additional inquiries turned up potential connections to a wider trafficking network, and more arrests are anticipated. To find the child’s biological parents, efforts are being made,” Okoye said.
The recent arrests, he emphasized, show the command’s dedication to fighting organized crime, including child trafficking.
