I still find it difficult to believe what happened to me.
Sometimes, the person you believe God has sent to help you may be the very person you need to be most careful around.
I am a mother of five children — two boys and three girls. My first daughter is 13 years old, while the other children include twins.
About two or three months ago, a woman started coming to our church.
She looked responsible, generous and God-fearing.
She made donotions in church, bought biscuits and sweets for children, and was always willing to help people.
Whenever she saw me and my children walking home after church, she would ask:
“Madam, are you going towards this area?”
Whenever I said yes, she would offer us a ride in her Venza.
She carried us several times, and eventually, we exchanged phone numbers.
She told me, “Anytime you’re coming to church, let me know. I can come and pick you and the children.”
I hardly called her because I felt uncomfořtable asking a wealthy woman to come and carry me and my five children.
Most times, she was the one calling me.
She told me she loved having children around because her own children were already grown.
I thought I had met a good woman.
I had no idea she was studying my family.
THE DAY EVERYTHING CHANGED
It was Friday, the first Friday of September 2026. 💔😭
I had gone to the market, and we had decided not to attend the vigil that night.
Before I left, the woman had asked whether we were coming to church. I told her I wasn’t sure.
I never called her.
But while I was away, she drove into our open compound.
According to my daughter and a neighbour who witneșsed what happened, she approached my children and asked whether they had eaten.
My daughter told her they had eaten the leftover food from the morning and were waiting for me to return.
The woman gave my daughter ₦5K.
She told her:
“Your mother asked me to give you this moñey. Prepare spaghetti and beans.”
My daughter asked if I really sent her.
She said yes.
Then she told my daughter to stay behind and cook while she took three of my children — two girls and one of my twin boys — to church.
My daughter became suspicious.
She told the woman that I had warned them never to allow anyone to take their siblings when I wasn’t around.
The woman insisted that I had sent her.
My neighbour was watching everything.
She questioned the woman because she had never seen me send her to take my children anywhere but she has been seeing her with us.
The woman confidently repeated that it was my instruction.
My neighbour then quietly took pictures of the woman’s car and plate number.
The woman drove away with my three children.
WHEN I CAME HOME
When I returned from the market, I expected my children to run towards me.
Instead, my eldest daughter came to me crying.
She told me the woman who normally carried us from church had taken three of her siblings.
I asked her, “Who sent her?”
She said the woman claimed I had sent her.
I looked at the ₦5K on the bed.
I shouted:
“ME? I SENT HER?”
I had never spoken to that woman.
I immediately called her.
She didn’t answer.
I called again.
Still nothing.
That was when fear took over me.
My husband was away at work.
I ran straight to the police station.
Thank God my neighbour had captured the vehicle’s plate number.
The police took the description and immediately began making calls.
Then we received information that a woman matching the description had been spoțțed with three children in traffic.
The vehicle was stuck in a hold-up.
We rușhed there.
And then…
I SAW MY CHILDREN.
They were alive, but frightened.
The woman was still with them.
When one of my little daughters was asked who the woman was, she said she was from our church.
The woman became angry and slapped her.
The police took her away for questioning.
And that was when the truth began to come out.
THE TRUTH THAT BRØKE MY HEART
According to what she confessed, she was invołved in child traffïčķing.
She said they no longer depended on picking children from the streets because it could easily expose them.
Instead, they had started going ințo churches.
They would spend two or three months attending a church and studying families.
According to her, they paid particular attention to parents who came to church with many children but did not come in cars.
Families who had to trek home after church because they could not afford transport.
Families who sometimes could afford transport today but not tomorrow.
Families with several children walking long distances together.
Those were the families they considered easier to approach.
They would become friendly with them.
They would offer them rides.
They would give their children sweets and money.
They would make donations in the church and appear generous.
They would slowly gain the family’s trust.
And when the opportunity came, they would take the children.
THAT WAS EXACTLY WHAT HAD HÃPPENED TO ME.
The woman had been watching us.
She knew we walked home from church.
She knew I had several children.
She made herself useful until I became comfortable around her.
What I thought was kindness was actually a way of gaining access to my children.
She looked like a woman who loved children.
She looked like someone who simply wanted to help.
BUT SHE WAS WATCHING FOR AN OPPØŘTUNITY.
According to her confession, the children were being taken to people who would pay huge amounts of money for them and could eventually move them outside the country.
I don’t even want to imagine what could have happened to my children if that vehicle had not been şțopped.
I THANK GOD TODAY
I thank God my neighbour was there.
I thank God she took the plate number.
And most importantly, I THANK GOD MY CHILDREN CAME BACK HOME.
Because if that vehicle had not been stopped in traffic, I don’t know where my children would be today.
That thought alone breaks me.
MOTHERS, PLEASE BE C@REFUL
Please teach your children that nobody should take them anywhere without your direct permission — no matter how familiar that person is.
Whether they are from your church, your neighbourhood, your family circle or someone who has helped you before, your child must know that your permission comes first.
And if you are a parent who walks home from church with your children because you cannot always afford transportation, please don’t think you are invisible.
Be observant.
Watch the people who suddenly became overly interested in your children.
Kindness is beautiful, but never allow kindness to replace caution.
Your children are your greatest responsibility.
Protect them.
