A distressed mother, Mrs. Stella Taylor (nee Osakwe), yesterday, lamented the continued detention of her two adopted children at the Benin zonal command of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

The two minors, four-year old Master Divine William Ikechukwu Taylor and five-month old Sherlyn Nwamaka Taylor, were picked up in September, 2023 when operatives of the anti-trafficking agency raided Mrs. Taylor’s private home in Asaba.

The agency had acted on the strength of a joint petition by Mrs. Taylor’s elderly mother, Ifeoma Osakwe and her youngest sibling, Valentina Osakwe, alleging that she was into trafficking of children.

But Mrs. Taylor, in a petition to the Director General of NAPTIP, debunked the allegation, accusing the Benin zonal commander of the agency of being compromised by her estranged family members to detain her children.

The United States of America-based nurse, alleged that her mother and youngest sibling were out to dispossess her of her property, adding that they allegedly conspired to also take away her earlier adopted child, Stella Star Uzomeyea Osakwe, whom, they changed her name to Nene Star Osakwe in the process of adoption.

According to her, she discovered the fraud in the adoption process when she returned to Nigeria in October 2022, adding that the child was adopted in her youngest sibling’s name despite her bearing the cost.

“I never for one day did anything to forcefully remove the said adopted child from my mother’s custody or did anything in the manner of trafficking the said child. My mother and my youngest sibling are still holding my said adopted child hostage,” she said.

Taylor stated that because of that experience, she decided, on her own, to adopt Ikechukwu and Nwamaka, through the normal process, adding that her mother and younger sister will still not let her be.