The Anambra State Police Command has apprehended a 63-year-old woman, Ngozi Muotuanya, from the Awkuzu-Oba area, for alleged involvement in child theft and suspected leadership of an interstate child trafficking syndicate.
According to the Police Public Relations Officer, Tochukwu Ikenga, operatives attached to the Oba Division arrested the suspect on Monday following credible intelligence reports.
Ikenga stated that the suspect was accused of stealing a male child, about one year old, in Minna, Niger State, in 2024 and selling him to an unsuspecting buyer in Anambra State. The child was later resold to another individual.
In his statement, Ikenga said, “In a decisive move to unravel the mysterious disappearance of children in the state, especially in Oba and its environs, police operatives attached to the Oba Division on August 11, 2025, acting on credible intelligence, apprehended one Ngozi Muotuanya, female, of Awkuzu-Oba, aged 63 years.
Preliminary investigations revealed that sometime in 2024, the suspect allegedly stole a male child, aged about one year, in Minna, Niger State, and sold him to an unsuspecting member of the public in Anambra State.
“The said suspect later resold the child to another person.
“However, on August 4, 2025, the receiver, upon realising that the child had been stolen, returned him to the principal suspect.
“The suspect, in turn, allegedly abandoned the child at an unascertained church in Minna, where he was rescued by the Leader of the Igbo Community in Minna.”
Ikenga added that the Niger State Police Command had been informed for possible recovery of the child, reuniting him with his parents, and taking necessary action.
The suspect will be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Awka for thorough investigation and prosecution.
