16 Children Rescued From Suspected Trafficking Syndicate In Rivers State

A total of 16 children believed to be victims of trafficking have been rescued from their abductors in the Osuoha area of Port Harcourt.

The incident went viral when a social media video appeared to show them. It surfaced on the internet with a request for good Samaritans to assist in locating the children’s parents for identification.

According to a highly placed police source who does not want his name mentioned because he is not authorised to speak on the matter, there was a commotion at a compound in Ozuoba when two women, suspected to be members of a human trafficking ring were arrested by plainclothes operatives yet-to-be identified security agency. The women had hitherto been guardians of the children until they were arrested.

The children caused a melée in the aftermath and the ensuing commotion led to the Divisional Police Officer of the Ozuoba division, who took all of them into custody.

It was however learnt that they were moved from Ozuoba Police Station, to the CP Monitoring Unit at the Old GRA Police Station where they are under protective custody of the police.

Interestingly, at the time of filing this report, the police are still trying to ascertain the whereabouts of both women and who arrested them.

In total, 16 children have been recovered and their ages range from 5 to 16 years. Nine of them are girls, with 7 being boys.