The Imo State Police Command has dismantled a child trafficking ring with the arrest of a couple, Monday Atodo and his wife, Ezekwere Ngozi, alongside the proprietor of St. Theresa’s Orphanage in Abuja, Ogochukwu Chikwelu, who was identified as the mastermind.
Police spokesperson Henry Okoye disclosed that the couple was intercepted on August 12, 2025, along the Owerri–Port Harcourt Road while traveling with a four-year-old boy, Isaiah, whom they falsely claimed as their biological son.
Okoye explained that 46-year-old Ngozi, originally from Enugu State but residing in Abuja, and her 43-year-old husband, Atodo, from Kogi State, were on their way to deliver the child to a buyer. Further investigation linked the operation to 56-year-old Chikwelu, of Nimo, Anambra State, who runs St. Theresa’s Orphanage in Apo Street, Lokogoma. She was tracked and arrested in Abuja through a joint police operation and later transferred to Owerri for prosecution.
Okoye said, “An interrogation revealed that the child was stolen in Kogi State by one Blessing Ogwo and handed over in Abuja to Ngozi, whose role was to deliver trafficked children to buyers. Further investigation uncovered the syndicate’s mastermind, 56-year-old Ogochukwu Chikwelu .‘f’, of Nimo, Anambra State, and resident in Abuja, who operates St. Theresa’s Orphanage at Apo Street, Lokogoma. She was tracked, arrested in Abuja through a joint operation with the State CID, and transferred to Owerri for further investigation and prosecution.”
The police confirmed that baby Isaiah is safe, while efforts are underway to reunite him with his parents and apprehend other fleeing members of the group.
In a separate case, operatives arrested 29-year-old Precious Okoh from Enugu State for trafficking a nine-year-old girl stolen from Bayelsa. Acting on intelligence, police traced the suspect to the Umuguma Housing Area of Owerri on July 16, 2025.
Okoye said, “On July 16, 2025, operatives of the command, acting on credible intelligence, arrested one Precious Okoh, 29, of Nkanu-East LGA, Enugu State, at the Umuguma Housing Area, Owerri, with a nine-year-old girl, Promise Christopher. She confessed that the child was stolen from Igbogene, Bayelsa State, and brought to Owerri for sale. The operatives traced the parents to Bayelsa, and the child has since been reunited with her parent.”
The Commissioner of Police, Aboki Danjuma, commended the officers involved and restated the command’s commitment to eradicating child trafficking in the state. He urged the public to remain alert and cooperate with security agencies to protect vulnerable children.
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