NAPTIP Arrests Fake Reverend Sister for Trafficking 38 Children in Delta State

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Edo Zonal Command, has arrested a woman named Maryvianney Ikejimba, also known as Oluchi, for allegedly trafficking 38 children in Delta State.

Ikejimba, who posed as a Reverend Sister, along with an accomplice named Chidera, reportedly handed over the children to two orphanage homes under the guise of providing them with better care.

The children were given to the suspects by their parents in a farm community in Enugu-Awka camp by the Monastery, Ilah, Delta State.

NAPTIP officials apprehended the suspect following a tip-off when she returned to the farm community to recruit more children.

According to NAPTIP Zonal Commander in Benin, Nduka Nwanwenne, the suspect claimed to have been trained in Ghana as a Reverend Sister, with their headquarters located in the Philippines.

The parents of the children were reportedly convinced by the suspects to allow their children to follow them to the orphanage homes, where they would receive better care.

As part of their convincing strategy, the suspects took two of the parents to visit the orphanage homes where the children would be staying.

So far, 32 of the children have been recovered by the agency, while the remaining six, aged between three and six years old, are yet to be found.

Ikejimba has claimed that three of the missing children are in Badagry and the other three are in Ogun State, but she later stated that they have been adopted by people in the East.

Nwanwenne has described the suspects as human traffickers posing as Reverend Sisters from a convent in Owerri, recruiting children for trafficking purposes.

The agency is still on the trail of the other suspect, Chidera, and charges will be filed against them as soon as the investigation is concluded.