Some residents of the area were said to have raised the alarm over the activities of the woman, who they said was found of returning home with different children, claiming she brought some of them from churches and unknown locations.
A lady in the estate, who spoke in confidence, said they observed the woman for some time, following the number of children living with her.
She said: “This lady was doing child trafficking, picking people’s children from churches and different communities in Rivers state.
“So just yesterday (Saturday) some people held the woman and called the Ozuoba Police. The Police came, arrested her and took the children away.”
Another resident said the woman had been staying in the compound in the last two years with different children.
He said: “The police said they came from Akwa Ibom State and that the woman is a child trafficking suspect. For two years the woman has been staying in the compound with the children, almost 200 children, some coming and going.
“At night I don’t sleep, they will be beating mortar till today that they (police) came to arrest her and take the children away”, he said.
When contacted, spokesperson of the state police command, Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed the incident, saying 16 children were rescued from an estate in the area.
Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police said: “I can confirm the rescue of the children based on intelligence gathering. The Ozoaba team acting on a tip off went there and the children were rescued from the estate within Ozuoba. 16 children in total.
“The case has been transferred to the Commissioner of Police Monitoring Unit for discreet investigation.”
She said the police were still investigating to know the number of suspects involved, adding that one person had been arrested.
“Yes, an arrest has been made from the information I got but like I said investigation is ongoing to find out if there are others involved,” she said.
