By Ayodele Popoola
A Magistrate’s Court sitting in Akure has ordered the remand of four women in the Ondo Correctional Facility for allegedly stealing and selling a four-year old girl, Jesinta Sunday, under the guise of false adoption.
The defendants, Chioma Okechukwu, 37; Mabel Esimai, 58; Amaka Kenneth, 38, and Tosin Adewumi, 25, were brought before the court on a three-count charge of conspiracy, child theft and forgery by the Sexual and Gender-Based Offences Unit of the command
The suspects were arrested following intelligence linking them to the kidnapping of the 4-year old girl in Akure.
Recall that The Hope Metro had earlier reported that the police rescued the missing child and uncovered a child trafficking ring operating across Ondo, Delta and Anambra States.
According to the police report, a key suspect, Amaka Chukwuemeka, aged 36, was arrested, and he confessed that he paid ₦3.7 million to purchase the child.
During their arraignment, Police Prosecutor, Sulaiman Adebayo, told the court that the defendants alongside others at large, committed the alleged offences in Akure, in February 2025.
He stated that the suspects conspired to abduct Jesinta from her parents and later sold her for ₦3.7 million.
Adebayo further alleged that Mabel Esimai received the stolen child and forged an adoption document, which was presented to Chukwuemeka under the guise of a genuine adoption.
Adebayo prayed the court to remand the defendants in a correctional facility pending advice from the state Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
However, defence counsel, A. Musa and Odoyinbo, in their reply, prayed the court to grant the defendants bail in the most liberal terms
After reviewing the case file and the statements from both the defendants and victims, Magistrate Damilola Sekoni ordered the remand of the defendant at the Ondo Female Correctional Facility in Akure
Sekoni also ordered the transfer of the case file to the DPP for advice and adjourned the case to December 12, 2025, for mention.