25 Kids Rescued from Child Trafficker in Lagos

Officials of the Lagos State
Government announced the arrest of 25
children from a suspected child trafficker
at Egbeda area of Lagos.
Mrs. Rosemary Nwachukwu, the
suspected human trafficker was
apprehended and detained at the Alausa
Police Station. The rescued children are
currently under the custody of the Lagos
State Government.
Mrs. Nwachukwu allegedly managed an
illegal orphanage by the name Saint
Stephen Charity Foundation, a home for
orphans and less privileged located at
30/32 Abiodun Adebanbo Street,
Egbeda.
The illegal orphanage home was stormed
and its dwellers have been rescued.
The age of the children ranges between
three months and 12 years. They
comprise three infants aged 3-6 months
and 22 other children.
Mrs. Omotola Rotimi, the Director of
OPD, said that Mrs. Nwachukwu
trafficked 27 children who were kept in a
room.
The suspect allegedly used the children
to raise money and defraud innocent
members of the public who needed to
adopt children, adding that 25 children
were rescued while the whereabouts of
the remaining two were unknown.
According to Fadairo, the Director, Child
Development, the illegal business was
being conducted in a room in the
residential building, saying that upon
investigation, it was discovered Mrs.
Nwachkwu had been engaging in various
anti-child development activities, such as
illegal adoption, trafficking and others
which she said, were carried out with
selfish reasons.
"Investigation also shows that there are
no records on each of the children and
no evidence of how the children got to
her home and no form of police or
security report," she explained.
Fadairo warned members of the public to
be vigilant and report such cases of child
trafficking to the media or the
government for necessary action.
She stated people and organizations that
operated unapproved or illegal
orphanages would be arrested and
prosecuted for human trafficking.
Mrs. Nwachukwu said she had been
running the illegal orphanage home for
the past 18 years and that it was purely
on charity basis, denying that she
trafficked in children.
Residents in the area said they never
knew such orphanage home existed,
while the police are still investigating the
issue.
The OPD has vowed to charge the
alleged culprit to court after
investigation had been concluded as the
Deputy Governor of Lagos, Mrs. Adejoke
Orelope-Adefulire is very much
interested in the case.