Police Apprehend Three Alleged Child Traffickers, a Fake Medical Practitioner; Ten Children Rescued
By Chizoba Njaka
Following an intelligence-driven investigation, police operatives from the 3-3 Divisional Headquarters have arrested three suspects: Mr. Odinakachukwu Okorie, Ifunanya Ogbonna, and a purported medical doctor, Mr. Daniel Ikebuilo and rescued ten (10) Children in an apartment in Inland-town, Onitsha.
During a press briefing in Awka, Anambra State Police Commissioner, Ikioye Orutugu, disclosed that the Divisional Police Headquarters had been surveilling Odinakachukwu Okorie, a suspect in a child trafficking case, following a report filed on August 28, 2024, regarding a missing 6-year-old boy in the neighborhood. Upon receiving a second complaint on February 13, 2025, about a missing 5-year-old girl in the same area, the police gathered sufficient evidence to effect the arrest of Okorie.
Commissioner Ikioye Orutugu further revealed that during the interrogation process, the suspect, Odinakachukwu Okorie, implicated Ifunanya Ogbonna as an accomplice in the child trafficking syndicate. Subsequent investigations led to the successful rescue of the two previously reported missing children and the apprehension of Mr. Daniel Ikebuilo, a fake medical doctor. Prior to their arrest, Odinakachukwu Okorie and Ifunanya Ogbonna confessed to having formulated plans to transport the 5-year-old girl to Abuja.
He disclosed that Ifunanya Ogbonna made a further confession, revealing that she had sold a child to Mr. Daniel Ikebuilo for a sum of one million naira (#1,000,000). Subsequent to this revelation, the police, acting on the intelligence gathering, conducted a rescue operation, liberating eight additional children from an apartment situated in Inland Town, Onitsha.
The Commissioner of Police, committed to safeguarding vulnerable children and combating human trafficking, seized the opportunity to formally request assistance from the Anambra State Government, specifically through the Ministry of Women's Affairs. The requested support encompasses provision of custody, medical attention, and care, aimed at facilitating the rescued children's recovery from their traumatic experience
However the achievement highlights the importance of community-police collaboration and intelligence gathering in combating child trafficking calling on anyone looking for his or her child to come to Anambra State Police Command for necessary action and possible reunion to their parent.