How NAPTIP Abducted, Detained 21-month-old Child And Nanny Over Family Feud

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has abducted a 21-month-old child in Enugu State because of a family feud involving the maternal uncles of the child. 

Ikenna Aniekwe told West Africa Weekly on Monday that his siblings were using the child, Obiajulu Zimichi Ogbozor, to get at him following a petition he wrote against his brothers, demanding accountability of funds realised during their father’s funeral last year.

According to Aniekwe, who resides in Canada, their late sister’s only child was picked up by NAPTIP officials on September 1 along with his Nanny, Chioma Obu and was immediately transported to Abuja without stating their crime. 

The nanny, who also spoke to West Africa Weekly, said they were arrested in the early hours of September 1 and were detained with the child in a freezing cell in Abuja. 

I was in the house on September 1 when four men in mufti came and asked of me; others in the house thought they were ordinary people who came to look for me. So when I came out, they said they were directed to take me for questioning that there was a petition against me that I was into child trafficking.

I asked them to allow me to change into something better because I was in my nightgown without any inner wear, but they refused because they felt I would run away. They handcuffed me and demanded the baby as well, so I asked them to bring him out. He was also in his nightwear and was still wearing his diaper from the previous night. 

Someone from the house followed us to the NAPTIP office in Enugu. Upon reaching there, they asked him to go and bring our clothes and food because we were getting ready for breakfast when they came and took us. When he left, they said we were going out. I thought they would take us back home to change and eat, but they drove past the house, so I asked where they were taking us, and they said we were being transferred to Abuja.”

Upon arriving in Abuja, Obu and the child were detained in a cell without protective clothing for the cold night or tommsanitary supplies. Describing what happened, she sadi,

“We arrived in Abuja around 10 p.m., still in our nightwear. When we got there, they told the officer in charge to take me to the cell, so the child and I were taken in. The cell was freezing; we were not given any blankets or cover clothes, and the baby was only wearing a polo, trousers, and slippers. I was destabilised and cried throughout the night. The child couldn’t sleep either because it was too cold.”

On September 2, the officers questioned Obu, asking who she was to the baby, the whereabouts of the child’s mother, and why the child was not with his father.

“I told them I was just his nanny, his mother is late, and he is not with his father because the court granted custody of the child to his maternal grandmother, Mrs Juliana Aniekwe. They also asked who was paying my salary and if I knew anyone who wanted to adopt the baby, to which I said no.”

While in NAPTIP’s custody, Obu and the child were fed twice a day. Their first meal was between 11 and 12 noon, and then dinner was around 6: 30 pm. On Tuesday, September 3, Obu was informed that the child would no longer be with her and that he would be transferred to a facility that catered for children. 

At that point, the child had no diapers left and was forced to sleep without clothes because the only clothes he had on were soiled, and his nanny couldn’t wash them because it was raining. “I had to take off his clothes, and he slept naked,” she narrated to West Africa Weekly. 

“On Wednesday morning, they brought pap for the boy; he drank it, and they took him away. He struggled, but they forcefully took him away.” Obu added, “On Thursday morning, I started menstruating; I had no pants or pads. I requested a pad and innerwear, but it took them time to bring the pad. When I asked for pants, they said I should use the pad like that. I eventually started shouting that I needed pants, but then they started asking embarrassing questions. They kept asking about the size of my pants. Eventually, they informed my lawyer, who later brought me new pants and more pads.”

Meanwhile, Godson Ogbozor, the child’s father, was detained when he went to NAPTIP’s office in Abuja to ask why his son was picked up. He told West Africa Weekly that NAPTIP officials told him that a petition was written against him about child trafficking. However, his name was not included when they gave him the petition to read.

“I arrived in Abuja on Tuesday, and by Wednesday, I went to NAPTIP’s office with my lawyer. They said there was a petition that I and my late wife did child trafficking. So I asked where the petition was, and they brought it, but I didn’t see my name. The petition only mentioned Juliana Aniekwe, who is my mother-in-law, Ikenna Aniekwe and the nanny, that they were involved in child trafficking. I identified myself and told them that the child they were talking about was my son. I showed them his birth certificate, baptism card, and many pictures.”

He revealed that his son was in his mother-in-law’s care because a court injunction granted her custody of the child while he was granted co-guardian status and presented receipts of things he had been buying for his son. 

Despite all the proof he presented, his phone was seized, and he was detained for over a week. Ogbozor was also denied access to his lawyer and was incommunicado for the period of his detention. 

“There is a court injunction giving the child custody to my mother-in-law, and I am a co-guardian. I go there often, buy things, and take them to him because I’m still a young man and have a business to take care of; I gave them receipts for some of the things I used to buy and send for the boy. But they insisted they would detain me, though my name was not on the petition; they said I was on their investigation list. 

They seized my phone, and I was secluded from Wednesday till Thursday the following week. My relatives couldn’t reach me and didn’t know my whereabouts. They also refused to allow my lawyers or anyone else to come and see me; there was no food, nothing. While in the cell, people there told me my son was in a cell with his nanny without any extra clothes, and he cried every night. I was told the nanny tried; he would urinate on her and every other thing on her body. “

He expressed readiness to undergo a DNA test to prove the child was his son and also took NAPTIP officials to the hospital where the child was born in Calabar, Cross River State. There, they learned the doctor who delivered his wife’s baby died two months ago. Subsequently, NAPTIP seized his passport and other valuable documents. 

“They accused Ikenna Aniekwe in the petition of attempting to kidnap my son to Canada. I think the brothers are just wicked and jealous. And it is baffling because they are biological siblings.”

West Africa Weekly gathered that the petition was written by some individuals, including Chika Aniekwe, a staff member of the United Nations International Organisation for Migration (IOM), and Chukwuma Aniekwe, a businessman, both of whom are the child’s maternal uncles. 

According to the nanny, Obu, a single mother of three, Chika attempted to bribe her to release Obibiajulu’s international passport in August 2024, and their arrest was caused by her decision to decline the offer.

“I got a call on August 28 that Mr Chika Aniekwe wanted Obiajulu’s passport. They offered me a job and an increment in my salary if I promised to give them, but I declined and told the lady who called me that I couldn’t because he was not in charge, and I informed my employer, Mr Ikenna.”

Despite a written request for the certified true copy of the petition by Ikenna Aniekwe’s lawyers, NAPTIP has refused to present the petition, and the whereabouts of the child and his condition are unknown to the family but have since released the nanny and his father, Ogbozor.

West Africa Weekly reached out to Chika Aniekwe for comments about the situation, but he feigned ignorance and asked, “What are you talking about, please?” NAPTIP is yet to respond to questions at press time.

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Kangmwa Gofwen

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