Adamawa State Government has handed over 14 children that were recently rescued from a trafficking syndicate who took them to Anambra State back to their respective parents.
Deputy Governor of Adamawa State, Professor Kaletapwa Farauta during the handing over ceremony at her office on Tuesday, noted with sadness that the state was on the map of an unfortunate monster of child trafficking that has been ravaging the nation.
According to her, the state government received an intelligence report of cases of missing children, most of who were minors in July, 2025.
She added that a manhunt of combined security operatives was lunched leading to the arrest of the heinous human trafficking ring leader, Ngozi Abdulwahab, a middle-aged woman.
According to her, Abdulwahab, the suspected trafficker has perfected the art of trafficking minors ages 4-9 years from various communities in the state to the southeastern region of Nigeria, where she sold each of the victims for between ₦800,000 to ₦1.7million.
In order to disguise her nefarious act, the suspect operated from a small provision shop which she owned at Jambutu ward, Yola North local government area where she 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 back to their respective parents and loved ones,” the deputy governor said.
She pledged that the government would ensure that the suspect face the full wrath of the law.
“We have ordered the immediate prosecution of the suspects under the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015 (Federal Law), Adamawa state Child Protection Law (2008), Violence against Persons (Prohibition) Law, 2021 and the Penal Code of Adamawa state.
“Adamawa State is the wrong place to come to. We shall flush them out and dismantle their networks, and they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
“For the past two months, under the rescue regime, we have worked tirelessly with the security operatives from the point of report, to investigation and evacuation of these children from their captors.
“We have camped them, profiled them, conducted medical examination on each of them, fed, clothed, and provided them with the required psychological therapy to onboard them to their ancestral aboard.
“We have equally searched for, found and matched them to their real parents,” she said.
Farauta announced that each of the parents of the rescued children were given ₦100,000, food and non-food items to cushion the effects of the reunion and set up a small enterprise to cater for the household.
She added that the Ministry of Women Affairs and the Welfare Departments of respective local government areas would institute routine follow-ups to monitor their upkeep and reintegration into your respective families.
Commissioner for Women Affairs, Neido Geoffrey urged parents to be on the watch out for their children, urging parents to live up to the expectations of their children.
The rescued children include Fatima Husseini, Nusaiba Abdulaziz, Maimuna Ibrahim, Ibrahim Hamman, Ismail Mohammed Iliyasu Umar Mohammed and Umar Mohammed.
Others are Nana Khadija Abdulwahab, Dahiru Abdulwahab, fatima Ismail, Muhammad Buba, Umar Farouk, Muhammad Abubakar, Nana Khadija and Suleiman Saleh.
