Kaduna State Government has successfully rescued 13 children allegedly sold to traffickers operating between Abuja and Enugu, with one victim discovered seven years after being stolen as a newborn.
Human Services Commissioner Hajiya Rabi Salisu revealed the heartbreaking details:
- Victims had Hausa names changed, memories of origins erased
- 11 children recovered from Abuja police on March 24
- 7 more liberated April 9, including 6 traced to Calabar via Kebbi
- Trafficking ring used Abuja orphanage as transit hub
“The seven-year-old we reunited today was taken as a seven-day-old infant,” Salisu stated, describing the emotional reunions at a Kaduna rehabilitation center providing trauma counseling and medical care.
Authorities arrested five suspects, including a female ringleader nicknamed “Maman Salamatu,” while urging parents of missing children to come forward with birth records. The operation continues as investigators pursue remaining syndicate members across three states.
At a tearful reunion, father Ali Adamu embraced his daughter Maryam, abducted two months prior in Kogi, pleading: “Guard your children like the treasures they are.” The state has now established a 24-hour trafficking alert system to combat the escalating crisis.
