The Police have arrested a 63-year-old woman, Ngozi Muotuanya for allegedly playing a key role in an inter-state child trafficking network.
The arrest was announced by the Anambra State Police Command on August 11, 2025. Muotuanya, an indigene of Awkuzu-Oba, was apprehended by operatives attached to the Oba Divisional Police Headquarters as part of efforts to tackle the rise in mysterious child disappearances in Oba and surrounding communities.
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According to police spokesperson Superintendent Tochukwu Ikenga, investigations revealed that sometime in 2024, Muotuanya allegedly stole a one-year-old boy from Minna, Niger State, and sold him to an unsuspecting buyer in Anambra. The child was later resold to another person.
The case took a twist on August 4, 2025, when the second buyer realized the child had been stolen and returned him to Muotuanya. Shockingly, the suspect then abandoned the toddler at an unspecified church in Minna. The child was eventually rescued by the leader of the Igbo community in Minna, who alerted the authorities.
Police have since worked with the Niger State Police Command to arrange the child’s recovery and reunification with his parents. Muotuanya is now in custody and will be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department ,SCID, in Awka for further investigation and prosecution.
The police vowed to track down other members of the trafficking syndicate, stressing that the arrest is a significant step towards dismantling child trafficking rings in the region.
Under Nigeria’s Trafficking in Persons ,Prohibition, Enforcement and Administration Act of 2015, child trafficking is punishable by at least seven years in prison, fines exceeding N1 million, or both. Authorities say this case serves as both a warning to traffickers and reassurance to affected communities.
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