TELL Magazine

A fake reverend sister, Ikejimba Maryvianney, aka Oluchi, has been arrested by the Edo Zonal Command of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, (NAPTIP) for allegedly trafficking 38 children in Delta State. It was gathered that the 40-year-old apprehended suspect, and one Chidera, now on the run, were handed over the children under the guise of helping to take good care of them in their two orphanages.

The children, it was learnt, were handed over to the suspects by their parents at a farming community in Enugu-Awka camp by Monastery, Ilah, Delta State. Ikejimba was reportedly arrested by the NAPTIP following a tip-off, when she came to the community apparently to recruit more children.

When contacted, the NAPTIP Zonal Commander in Benin, Nduka Nwanwenne, a lawyer, confirmed the incident. Nwanwenne said the suspect was in their custody. He said the suspect claimed to be trained in Ghana as a reverend sister, while their headquarters was in the Philippines. “She came to meet the parents and persuaded them to allow their children follow them to their orphanages, and that they would be given better care”, he stated.

Nwanwenne said on January 28, the suspect was given 12 children, while on February 19, 2024, she was given 26 children, bringing the total number of children in her custody to 38, all minors. According to him, the suspect and her accomplices were human traffickers recruiting children for human trafficking, who posed as Rev. Sisters from a convent in Owerri, Imo State.

According to Nwanwenne, “To convince the parents when they were handed over the first batch of the children, the suspects asked two of the parents to follow them to know the two orphanages the children would stay”. He said 32 of the children had been recovered by the agency, while six, who are between the ages of three, four, and six years, were yet to be recovered.

The NAPTIP Benin zonal commander said, “The suspect, when arrested, claimed that three of the six children are in Badagry, while the other three are in Ogun but later said they have been adopted by people in the East”, adding that the agency was still on the trail of getting the victims, as well as arresting the suspect at large, and that the suspect would be charged to court. Nwanwenne warned parents to be vigilant, and never to trust anybody with their kids without asking fundamental questions