The Niger State Police Command has rescued six children and uncovered a child-stealing and human-trafficking network operating across Niger State and the Federal Capital Territory. The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Wasiu Abiodun, disclosed this in a crime bulletin issued on Wednesday.
He explained that the breakthrough began on November 5, 2025, when operatives arrested a woman identified as Victoria Ebunoha Chukwumezie at Diko Junction. She was found in possession of three children, all between two and three years old, who had been abducted from the Lambata area. Investigations later linked her to similar incidents in Tafa, Suleja and Madalla.
According to Abiodun, detectives of the SCID Minna followed details provided by the suspect and proceeded to Kurudu, Abuja, on November 11. There, they arrested a couple who were found with two additional trafficked children in their residence at Orozo. The couple reportedly confessed that the children had been sold to them by a hospital worker in the area for a combined fee of ₦2.3 million, which included a so-called registration charge. He said the Command is intensifying efforts to arrest the alleged seller and recover other children suspected to have been trafficked through the ring.
A separate case occurred on November 16, when police in Tafa Division arrested a man sighted with four children around Angwan-Katampe in suspicious circumstances. A crowd had already begun to gather before officers intervened and took both the suspect and the children into protective custody. During questioning, the man confessed that an unidentified woman had instructed him to bring the children to her in exchange for a reward. Efforts are underway to identify and apprehend the woman.
SP Abiodun also reported that seven individuals were arrested across Minna for offences related to armed robbery, thuggery and possession of dangerous weapons. In one incident on November 17, a police surveillance team on stop-and-search duty along the Western Bye-Pass intercepted two young men on a motorcycle and recovered a locally made gun from them. Earlier, on November 14, a sting operation in several crime-prone areas of the state capital led to the arrest of other suspects found with illicit substances and sharp weapons. All those arrested have been charged in court.
The Command further disclosed that three men were arrested in connection with receiving and selling rustled cattle, following a complaint lodged on November 13 over missing cows in the Ibeto area of Magama LGA. Investigations traced some of the stolen livestock to Lagos, while eight more cows were recovered in Oyo State. The suspects were taken into custody, while two other individuals linked to the case are currently at large. Efforts to apprehend them are ongoing.
SP Abiodun reaffirmed the Command’s commitment to intensifying investigations and dismantling criminal networks across Niger State.
