Mother escapes prostitution as syndicate sells her children

A mother of three, Mrs Esther Agwu-Okachi, who escaped prostitution and returned home to discover that a member of a trafficking syndicate has allegedly sold her two children, has cried out for help.

Esther, a widow, became frantic with worry over the alleged sale of her two children. She said she ran to human right activists, Campaign for Democracy (CD) in Enugu, urging them to assist her in her quest for justice.

According to Esther, it was one of her kinsmen, Ifeanyi Ezitiri, in Ebonyi State, who approached and convinced her to go to Orlu, to meet the suspect, Okezie Aguabata.

Ezitiri promised her that Aguabata would employ her in his restaurant business.
She said: “Ifeanyi gave me the phone number of Aguabata. The man said that I should ensure I come with my three children, so that he would enroll them in school at Orlu. Aguabata sent me N1500 as transport fare, with which I used to travel to Orlu with my children. When I got there, he deceived and told me to go to Lagos, to meet a childless couple. My three children were stolen, but one of them, escaped from the traffickers.”

It was gathered that immediately the group got involved in Esther’s case, they approached Orlu Area Office of Imo State. A team of policemen were given to them and one of the suspects, believed to be involved in the sale of the children was arrested. The suspect was identified as Okezie Aguabata.

Esther noted: “My two children have not been found. The police at Orlu initially demanded for money before they could go and effect arrest Aguabata. It was the second day, after I reported the case that the police eventually went to arrest the man. They realized I didn’t have money.”

The chairman of the group in South East zone, Comrade Dede Uzor A. Uzor, said he was not too happy with the way police are handling the matter, said: “The widow, on getting to Lagos was received by a ‘Madam’ who told her that the people who sent her ought to have told her the truth. The truth was that she they sent her to Lagos for prostitution and possible transfer to Ghana or other African countries, where she would be forced
to sell any of her organs.”

Uzor continued: “The Madam that received the widow took her to a brothel, to resume work, but the widow protested. She started crying, this made the madam to send her away the next day without money. The madam didn’t even care that Esther didn’t know her way back to Orlu. The suspect, Agbuta, who is presently in police custody, runs an eatery and beer palour business.

Uzor said: “When the widow was sent to Lagos, she was told that her three children, namely; Chinedu (9), Brenda (6) and Victor (4) would be handed over to Aguabata’s mother. His mother was expected to take care of the three children until they resumed school at Orlu. On her return two days later, she discovered that two of her children, Brenda and Victor had been sold. The eldest son, Chinedu escaped from them and was wandering about when a Good Samaritan rescued him. The Good Samaritan called Esther, who subsequently reported the matter to police before inviting Campaign for Democracy.”

Yesterday, Uzor called on the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, to order the Orlu Area Office of Imo State Police Command, to handover the case file to National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and other Related Matters (NAPTIP).

The group also alleged that the Area Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Edet, instead of arresting all mentioned suspects and going after those that sold the children in order to rescue them, directed the wife of Aguabata to go and bring back one of the children whom they admitted to have sold.

Uzor said that the matter had already been reported to NAPTIP.

He added: “The suspect and others at large tricked Esther and stole her children. They then sent her away to Lagos, to live with a couple who had no child.”

ACP Edet, reacting on the incident, said the matter had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID). He said that he considered any form of child adoption that didn’t follow due process, child stealing.

Attempt to get the reaction of the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Imo State Police Command, Andrew Enwerem, was unsuccessful as he didn’t take calls.