The Adamawa state government has reunited 14 rescued children trafficked from the state to Anambra state with their parents.
Performing the ceremony in her office on Tuesday, Deputy Governor of the state, Prof. Kaletapwa Farauta Farauta noted with sadness that the state is on the map of an unfortunate monster of child trafficking ravaging the nation.
According to her, in July 2025, the government received an intelligence report of missing children, most of them minors, where the investigation led to the arrest of the ring leader, a middle-aged woman of Igbo extraction identified as Ngozi Abdulwahab.
“Mrs Abdulwahab has perfected the art of trafficking minors aged 4-9 years from various communities in the state to the southeastern region of Nigeria, where she sold the victims for paltry sums ranging from ₦800,000 to ₦1.7 million per child.
“The trafficker operated from a small provision shop she owned at Jambutu ward, Yola-north LGA, and used snacks and gifts to lure unsuspecting children.
“Today, as I speak to you, we have rescued about 12 children, rehabilitated them, and prepared them enough to be reunited with their respective parents and loved ones,” Farauta said.
The Deputy Governor pointed out that the government would ensure the suspect faces the full wrath of the law.
“We have camped them, profiled them, conducted medical examinations on each of them, fed, clothed, and provided them with the required psychological therapy to onboard them to their ancestral board.
Farauta announced that each of the parents of the rescued children was given ₦100,000 and food and non-food items to cushion the effect of the reunion and set up a small enterprise to cater for the household.
She directed the Ministry of Women Affairs and Welfare Departments of respective local government areas to institute routine follow-ups to monitor their upkeep and reintegration into their respective families.
On her part, Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Neido Geoffrey, urged parents to be watchful of their children.
Neido urged parents to hold up on the expectations of their children.
In a remark, Suleiman Alkali, member representing Yola-North in the State House of Assembly, urged religious leaders to preach messages of parental responsibility and ensure the good upbringing of children as a gift from God.
Most of the rescued children are from Mubi- South, Mubi- North, Yola-South, and Yola-North local government areas of the state, where their names were changed to Igbo names to disguise their identity before they were rescued.
Speaking on behalf of the parents of the rescued children, Mohammed Abubakar, thanked the government for rescuing and uniting them with their children.
Abubakar said they have lost hope of seeing them alive.
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