The Edo Zonal Command of NAPTIP (National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons) has apprehended a suspected trafficker posing as a Rev. Sister in Delta State.
The suspected trafficker was apprehended for allegedly trafficking 38 children.
It was gathered by newsmen that the 40-year-old suspect Maryvianney Ikejimba (alias Oluchi), and one Chidera, handed over the children to two orphanage homes under the guise of giving them better care.
NAPTIP made a decisive move and captured Ikejimba as she visited the farm community in search of more children to traffic.
Her plans were thwarted by the official’s quick response to the anonymous tip.
According to the information received, the children were handed over to the suspects by their parents at a farm community in Enugu-Awka camp by the Monastery, Ilah, Delta State.
The NAPTIP Zonal Commander in Benin Nduka Nwanwenne, when contacted confirmed the incident, noting that the suspect was in their custody.
The suspect according to NAPTIP claimed to have received her training as a Rev. Sister in Ghana while the purported headquarters is in the Philippines.
She allegedly met with the parents in the community and persuaded them to hand over their children promising better care in orphanages under her watch.
In his words, “To convince the parents when they were handed over the first batch of the children, he said the suspects asked two of the parents to follow them to know the two orphanage homes the children would stay.
“Thirty-two of the children have been recovered by the agency while six who are between the ages of three and six years old are yet to be recovered.
“The suspect claimed that three of the six children are in Badagry while the other three are in Ogun State but later said they have been adopted by people in the East.”
Nwanwenne said on January 28 the suspect was given 12 children while on February 19, she was given 26 children bringing the total number of children in her custody to 38, noting that the children were all minors.
According to him, the suspect and her accomplices were human traffickers, who were posing as Rev. Sisters from a convent in Owerri, recruiting children for human trafficking.
He said the agency was still on the trail of the other suspect who is at large and that the suspect would be charged in court as soon as the investigation is concluded.
He however warned parents to be vigilant and not to trust anybody with their kids without asking fundamental questions.
