..agony of a mother whose child was stolen in Lagos, sold in Anambra

Child Trafficking

The story of Zainab Ganiu started in 2021. It was that year that her five year old son, Sultan, was stolen right under her nose. The theft of the child simply left everyone shocked and nonplussed. Zainab, a petty trader under the Dopemu Bridge had since then been frantically searching for her son and has refused to relinquish her fragile hope. Desperate for help, she ran to Esther Child Rights Organisation, located in Dopemu, Lagos State, where the Executive Director, Ms. Esther Ekwem, filled with empathy, joined her in the search for Sultan.

The search

The search for Sultan has taken both women to different police stations in Nigeria. The search started in Lagos and then berthed at Anambra State Criminal Intelligence and Investigations Department (SCIID). Police at both states have been a big source of disappointment, said Zainab, who was heartbroken. Sultan has been traced to the custody of a reverend sister of a Catholic Church in Anambra State. Indeed, the child traffickers, who picked the child from Lagos and sold him to traffickers in Anambra State, were arrested and they confessed to have sold the baby to the reverend sister. Ekwem and Zainab were already jubilant that they would soon see Sultan after years, but alas their joy was short-lived, the police, for reasons yet unknown, abruptly released the reverend sister, plunging Zainab into unimaginable despair. She had a feeling of Deja Vu because detectives at Lagos SCIID, after arresting one Chijioke and her partner in crime, Chika, whom both confessed to stealing and trafficking Sultan, secretly granted them bail, without alerting Zainab or Ekwem.

Suspects released

The release of the women left everyone nonplussed, especially since everyone expected the police to use them as bait to catch their kingpin, who they said was with Sultan. The policemen who granted the bail insisted they knew what they were doing, explaining that they had told the two traffickers to be reporting to the SCIID every two weeks. Child trafficking is a felony in Nigeria. The two suspected traffickers never reported at the station for once. They simply disappeared into the wind. Before Zainab and Ekwem travelled to Anambra State, a lot of drama happened in Lagos State with the police.

Police demand money

The Police at Lagos SCIID had asked Zainab to cough up N1.5million, which they said they needed to travel to Anambra State to track the traffickers and rescue Sultan. Zainab had gone to the media, asking Nigerians to assist her in raising the money so that the police could embark on the journey. Sultan was stolen on November 1, 2021 by a woman later identified as Chijioke. According to Zainab, police told her that she needed to cough up N1.5m which they needed to track the leader of a human trafficking ring, identified as Mr. Chidi, who is alleged to be in possession of the boy, residing in Anambra State. Zainab’s husband is a bus driver, and the couple did not have such an amount of money.

Suspects located

Before the drama at Lagos SCIID started, Zainab told the story of how she discovered Sultan’s location and got encounter with the suspected women traffickers, Chijioke and Chika. She explained that on the 20th of March, 2022, while watching MITV, she saw a female human trafficker, Chijioke, confessing to how she used to steal children from Lagos State and then move them to Anambra State to sell. Zainab narrated: “On that fateful day, Sultan was playing with eight year old Rejoice in front of her mom’s shop, when the incident happened. In fact, Rejoice’s mom sent her to go and buy a sachet of water and my son followed her. As they were returning, Chijioke blocked and asked them to come, that she wanted to buy popcorn for them. When they got there, the popcorn seller was not around, the woman carried my son, while Rejoice ran home to tell me that a woman had carried my son and left. That was how I started looking for Sultan till date.” Zainab said that when she saw Chijioke on MITV, she quickly grabbed a picture of Sultan and dashed to Elere Police Station, where the suspect was being held. Zainab narrated: “I begged the police to show her the picture, maybe Sultan was among the children she had stolen and taken to Anambra State. She immediately recognised Sultan and admitted to stealing and taking him to Anambra State.” Detectives at Elere Police Station later transferred the case to SCIID, Yaba, Lagos State. Zainab said that when they got to the SCIID, the suspect opened more cans of worms, mentioning names of members of the syndicate. “She mentioned a particular name, Chika, whom the police went after and arrested. Another name, Mr. Chidi was also mentioned, whom Chijioke said was the leader of the human trafficking syndicate. Police collected N40,000 from me for the tracking of Mr. Chidi’s phone line. Police said that he was in the Nnewi part of Anambra State. “Police said that I should go and raise N1.5m so that they could further track the ringleader to Nnewi to arrest him. The matter was handled by D10 Section at SCIID. Our first Investigating Police Officer (IPO) was Mr. Roger, but he had been transferred out of D10. We were given another IPO by the name of Mosun. She is aware of the N1.5m demand, which I would have quickly given to them if I had such an amount. We don’t have such an amount of money,” cried Zainab. Ekwem, narrating their journey to Anambra State and subsequent event said: “When we heard that the traffickers were tracked to Anambra State, we went to Anambra State. We went to report to the Area Command at Nnewi. “From the Area Command, they gave us a tracker. The person tracking got the main guy whose name is Osita Lechidi. He was tracked to Nnewi and arrested. The police also arrested two other women, but they were not the two released by Lagos SCIID. “One of the women, Faith, confessed that Chijioke handed the child to her, she then handed him over to her partner in crime. Her partner now handed the child over to the reverend sister. Faith said that she was paid N300,000 for the child. “The reverend sister was arrested and later released. The Police said that the child is in Nsukka. The reverend sister promised to bring the child on March 31. Till now, nothing has happened.” Ekwem said that her greatest worry was that the man who sold the child, Chidi Osita by name, was released, along with the reverend sister, who was the last seller. Fuming, Ekwem said: “When we asked police why the reverend sister was released, they said she told them she had iron in her body. She is the one that is with the child and she has sold the child. “At this point, Nnewi Police tried, but in the middle of the road they released the prime suspects that were crucial to the rescue of the child. I am not comfortable with the whole scenario, because people who steal and sell children should not be released.” Zainab, who is currently in Anambra State with Ekwem, said: “I know how much we spent on the case of Chijioke and Chika at Lagos SCIID, and still police went ahead to release them. “When we came to East, we found four people involved in the case after Chidi Osita was tracked. It was through Chidi Osita that the other three were arrested. When the police said they are transferring the case to SCIID, Akwa, we were shocked to discover that police had released two people among the suspects. The police said they released the reverend sister, who is among the prime suspects because she had iron in her leg, while Chidi was released because of his wife. “I am worried because of the way Lagos SCIID handled the case; the police released two traffickers, who had admitted to stealing my son.” Zainab could not comprehend why the Nigeria Police Force was treating the case with levity. She stated: “How can police arrest people who stole a five year old boy and then allow them to go? Now police said they can’t find them. Do you know that the 4th of April was my son’s birthday? He’s seven years old now, and I don’t know his whereabouts. I am so disappointed in the Nigeria Police. It looks like we are in a lawless country.” She argued that if really Nigeria has a law, there was no way suspects arrested in connection with stealing and trafficking a child would have been granted bail. She seethed: “This can only happen in Nigeria! We are talking about a child, a human being, who was stolen from his mom. Does this mean that police officers do not have feelings? Why are they like this? “I am going through pains; my heart is bitter because this syndicate must have stolen many children, leaving parents in agony, with many parents still frantically searching for their children. “There are other two cases in Dopemu, and I know that this syndicate is involved.” Ekwem said that the case of Zainab was heartwrenching, explaining that the woman had borrowed and spent money since she started looking for Sultan. Ekwem further said: “I know how much this woman has spent, borrowing money here and there in Lagos. She was asked to pay N1.5 million by the police before they would follow her down east here. I have never seen this kind of country, but I believe that with all these challenges, a miracle will still happen.”

Police reaction

When our reporter reached out to the Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ikenga Tochi, asking why suspected child traffickers were released, he responded: “ Your concern has been noted, but the case is still under investigation. Therefore, I am constrained to make further comments. Any other developments shall be communicated.” (Text, excluding headline: New Telegraph)

Update news