Police operatives in Ondo State have successfully rescued a missing four-year-old girl and uncovered a child-trafficking syndicate operating across Ondo, Delta, and Anambra States.
The case was first reported on February 3, 2025, when a man identified as Sunday Kingsley, a resident of Alagbaka Extension, Akure, informed authorities that his daughter, Jesinta, had gone missing while in the care of her mother, Sunday Happiness.
In a statement released to journalists on Thursday, the spokesperson for the Ondo State Police Command, Olusola Ayanlade, detailed the investigation. According to him:
“The case was reported on February 3rd, 2025, by one Sunday Kingsley ‘m’, who stated that his 4-year-old daughter, Jesinta Sunday, had disappeared while staying with her mother, one Sunday Happiness ‘f’.
The case was subsequently transferred to the Monitoring Unit at the State Command Headquarters for a thorough investigation. During the process, the matter was brought before the Family Magistrate Court, resulting in the remand of both Sunday Happiness and another woman, Nneka Onah, at the Ondo Correctional Centre. Both were later granted bail.”
The breakthrough came on July 9, 2025, when Kingsley reported that his missing daughter had been spotted in Asaba, Delta State. Acting swiftly, detectives from the Command’s Gender Desk Team recovered the child and safely returned her to Akure.
Further investigations revealed a child-trafficking network behind the abduction. Ayanlade said the rescue led to the arrest of a 30-year-old woman, Amaka Chukwuemeka, who confessed to buying the child for ₦3.7 million.
“She admitted that a friend, Chinaza Owoh, aged 38, had connected her to a 58-year-old woman named Mabel Esimai, who handed over the child under the guise of an adoption, using forged documents,” the statement continued.
This revelation led to the arrest of Mabel Esimai, who during interrogation, confessed she received the child from another woman, Chioma Okechukwu, aged 37, with instructions to find a buyer.
Commissioner of Police in Ondo State, Adebowale Lawal, commended the Gender Desk Team for their swift and effective action. He directed that investigations continue until all members of the trafficking network are identified and prosecuted.
Lawal reaffirmed the police’s commitment to eradicating crime in the state, stating that Ondo will not be a safe haven for child traffickers or criminal syndicates.
