Mrs. Anioke paid N800, 000 for Christabel and had already put her in a school before the bubble burst.
Christabel was sold across six states at different prices before she was rescued.
A drama played out at the police headquarters when she rejected her father and felt relaxed in the arms of Mrs. Anioke.
From Edo, Christabel was taken to Ondo State where she was first sold for N350, 000 by Mary Paul, one of the tenants that stole the children.
She was then taken through Anambra, Delta, Rivers, Imo and Enugu States.
The whereabouts of her sister Amanda is unknown as the last woman that bought her in Anambra and took her to Ogwashuku In Delta State has died.
Police sources said the late woman sold her off before she died.
Spokesman for Edo Police Command, DSP Chidi Nwabuzor, said initial efforts to find the children failed and the case was referred to the Special Anti-kidnapping and Cyber Crime Unit headed by SP Richard Balogun, who through painstaking hi-tech Intelligence tracked the suspects and rescued one of the two stolen children
Among the suspects paraded in connection to the sales was one Pastor Chinyere Okeke, Comfort Dike John, Glory Onuoha ,38, Adendu Ifeoma 40, Evangeline Akubor 38, Pastor Chinyere Okeke 39, Ogechi 38 and Anioke Augustina 48.
According to Nwabuzor: “Mary absconded with the children and sold them to one Rita Eze from Delta State at N450,000 and 300,000 fee respectively.
“Rita in turn sold Amanda to a woman in Ogwas-Chukwu, Delta state at N400, 00 and Christabel to Comfort Dike John, who run orphanage in Imo state at N500,000.
“Comfort later sold Christabel to Mrs. Anioke Augustina, who adopted her at N8500,00 without due process.
“Rita Eze, Joy Ode and Uju Favour are already in Court and remanded in Benin prison while Mary Paul who stole the kid is in Ondo state prison facing a different case of child stealing.
“Sadly, the police is yet to recover Amanda because the person who she was sold to is dead but we are living no stone unturned in ensuring that she is recovered,” she said.
Mrs. Anioke denied involvement in the theft, saying she only adopted Christabel from an orphanage.
“I agreed to adopt the baby when I saw government approved written on the sign board,” she stated.
Comfort said she bought the baby at N500, 000 when the woman who brought her said the baby’s father was dead.
“I did not know that the baby was stolen. But I only collected N700, 000 from the woman who adopted her and not N850, 000,” she said.
Pastor Chinyere Okeke, said she was not aware that the baby was stolen because they were given papers to make it genuine.
“I only took the buyer to the orphanage. I did not know that the baby was stolen. It is painful because of the embarrassment,” She said.
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