BENIN CITY-One of two children declared stolen last June in Utese Village in Ovia North East local government area of Edo State has been found in Enugu State by operatives of Edo Police Command.


The two children, Amada Osaruonamen and her sibling Christabel Osaruonamen were four and two years old respectively, when they were stolen from their family residence on June 4, 2018.

Eleven women alleged to have been involved in crime were also arrested by Investigators.


Police said they had intensified investigation towards rescuing the other baby.


Police investigations revealed that Christabel was found in the custody of a woman in Enugu after she had been traded six times by five different stolen child’s dealers in Ondo, Anambra, Delta, Rivers, Imo and Enugu States.

Briefing journalists on the break through, the Public Relations Officer for Edo Police Command DSP Chidi Nwabuzor said immediately police received the report that two children were stolen from one Mr and Mrs Edosa Osaruonamen, investigation was launched as several arrests were made.


He explained that when initial efforts to find the children failed, the case was referred to the Special Anti-kidnapping and Cyber Crime Unit headed by SP Richard Balogun who through painstaking hi-tech Intelligence tracked the suspects and rescued one of the two stolen children
DSP Nwabuzor disclosed that one Mary Paul a co-tenant to the parents of the children stole and sold them to one Rita Eze, 49, in Onitsha at the rate of N750, 000.00.


One Mrs Anioke Augustine whose costudy the child was recovered in Enugu said she paid N850,000.00 as child adoption fee to an orphanage in Imo State where baby Christabel was given to her last year. 


The operator of the orphanage one Madam Comfort Dike John said one Ogechi Ejike, 33 took baby Christabel to her orphanage for upkeep.
Ogechi was said to have claimed that baby Christabel’s parents died in a ghastly motor accident adding that as her aunt she would not be able to fend for her.


The orphanage operator however admitted to have received N700, 000.00 as child adoption fee from Mrs Anioke Augustine.


The child Christabel was reunited with his biological family at the state police command headquarters, Benin City, on Thursday, May 23, 2019.