A resident of Portharcourt, Mrs Sandra Godknows, has accused the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the Igwuruta Police Station under the Ikwerre Area Command in Rivers State of failing to produce two suspects, who were released after being arrested in connection with the alleged trafficking of her late brother’s ten-year-old son and his eight-year-old sister.
The suspects include a lawyer based in Igwuruta, Rivers State, and a man named John, who owns an orphanage in Imo State. In a conversation with journalists,
Mrs Godknows shared that she received a phone call one fateful Tuesday at 7 PM from her brother in the village, informing her that her late brother’s son was at the Igwuruta Police Station and urging her to go there to find out what was happening.
“When I moved down there on Wednesday 18, February,2026, my late brother’s Son ran to me and hugged me. The boy told me that his mother brought him and his younger sister to a man operating an orphanage home, John. The Orphanage home gave out his sister before him. One lawyer who stays at Igwurita now took him from the owner of the orphanage home.
“The boy was staying in Igwuruta with that Man (lawyer). He overheard the lawyer discussing how he would take the boy to another place he didn’t know. So that made him(boy) afraid. He jumped the fence and started shouting for help. Someone came for his rescue and took him to OSPAC. He took the OSPAC to the lawyer’s house in Igwuruta, and the lawyer was arrested by OSPAC and taken to Igwuruta Police Station.
“The IPO at Igwuruta Police Station said we have to go for an investigation in Imo State. I mobilised, and we went to Imo state and arrested the owner of the Orphanage home and brought him to Igwuruta Police Station.
“When we got to the Igwuruta Police station, the owner of the orphanage home and the DPO hugged each other and had a handshake. The DPO said the owner of the Orphanage home is his good friend.
“Is the owner of the Orphanage home picked up his phone and called his relatives that they should not bother or come, is the rightful place. That he will be coming back safely.
“The DPO now asked me if I have any questions to ask the owner of the Orphanage home. I told the DPO to tell the owner of the Orphanage to produce the woman who gave him these children, so that she would come and explain herself. The DPO said I should go and look for the woman since she is my late brother’s wife. I knew the DPO had changed.
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“I now ran to State CIID, Port Harcourt, to ask for help. State CIID sent a signal to Igwuruta Police Station to bring the case file and the suspects. SCIID made all their efforts for the Igwuruta Police Station to bring the case file. And this Igwuruta Police station has refused to bring the file and the suspects till now. The sister of the ten-year-old boy is nowhere to be found till now.
“The DPO has released the lawyer and the owner of the orphanage home.I am calling on the Police Authority, the general public to help me,” Mrs Godknows said.
“In her response, the Public Relations Officer of the Rivers State Police Command, Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP.
Grace Iringe Koko stated that after questioning the DPO of the Igwuruta Police Division, the DPO clarified that on February 6, 2026, a Commander of OSPAC in Ikwerre LGA, Obinachi Wodu, brought the lawyer along with the ten-year-old boy to the station.
“The ten-year-old boy who raised an alarm was not comfortable with the family he was adopted into. The Mother of the boy gave the boy to be adopted, according to the Barrister and John Uzoegbu, owner of the Orphanage home, in Imo State. The DPO disclosed that they proved that the child was legally adopted and brought court papers to return the child to the court,” CSP Koko said.
In response, Prince Wiro, the National Coordinator of the Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign, has called on the DPO to transfer the case to the State Criminal and Intelligence Department (SCIID) as per the standard procedure for case transfers within the Nigeria Police Force.
“We all know that when there is a signal from a unit that is higher than the Division, the Division must transfer the case to that unit. From what I know, private orphanage homes are not empowered by law to give out children for purposes of adoption, which is only the responsibility of the Ministry of Social Welfare.
“So if the DPO claims that the owner of the Orphanage home and the lawyer showed some papers interms of affiividats and the rest of them to show that they legally adopted the children, since the complainant is not satisfied, it is normal that the DPO should produce the lawyer and the owner of the orphanage home at the level of State CIID which is the apex investigating Police unit in Rivers State, where we also have the office of Officer in charge (OC) Legal department so that they can look at the papers to ascertain and verify if the papers are authentic.
‘I also urge the SCIID to extend their investigation to the Ministry of Social Welfare in Imo state to verify if these children were actually given out for adoption by the Ministry.If the DPO fails to produce the lawyer and the owner of the orphanage home at the level of SCIID, Port Harcourt, he should be sanctioned. The Police is a disciplined organisation. Efforts should also be made to re-arrest the lawyer and the owner of the orphanage home to ensure a thorough investigation so that justice can be served to all the parties involved,” Mr Wiro stated.
