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The Rivers State Police Command has successfully rescued 17 children targeted for trafficking and arrested four suspects linked to the criminal operation. In a significant breakthrough, officers rescued 16 children from a compound in Ozuoba Community, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.
The rescue took place after residents of an estate noticed suspicious activities involving a woman frequently seen with different children. Concerned neighbors eventually forced their way into the compound, discovering 16 helpless children and immediately alerted the police. The authorities responded swiftly, apprehending the suspect and ensuring the children’s safety.
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent Grace Iringe-Koko, said, “I can confirm the rescue of the children based on intelligence gathering. The Ozuoba team, acting on a tip, went there, and the children were rescued from the estate.” The case has since been transferred to the Commissioner of Police Monitoring Unit for further investigation.
In a related development, the police also rescued a one-year-old baby and arrested three additional suspects in connection with another child trafficking case. According to Iringe-Koko, the incident unfolded on August 25, 2024, when officers from the Ubima Divisional Headquarters responded to a distress call. The victim, 20-year-old Queen Orlu, was found unconscious in Omeka Farmland, Ikwerre Local Government Area, suffering from severe injuries, including a stomach wound with her intestines protruding.
Investigations revealed that the suspect, 20-year-old Polycarp Uzoma, had lured Orlu into the bush, attacked her, and left her for dead before selling her one-year-old baby, Desire Orlu, to a woman named Happiness Amadi for N1,400,000. The police uncovered that an auxiliary nurse, Chinyere Ordu, had orchestrated the sale and received N800,000 from the transaction.
Iringe-Koko stated that all three suspects have confessed to the crime, and the police have recovered N800,000 and a bicycle as evidence. The rescued baby boy has since been reunited with his mother, who is receiving medical care at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.
