Abuja Police Free Woman Allegedly Chained for 16 Months
A 36-year-old woman, Ms. Grace Aniekuoku, allegedly held in chains and confined in a single room by her own brother for more than one year and four months, has been rescued by detectives of the Federal Capital Territory Police Command in Abuja.
The Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, CP Sanusi, disclosed the rescue on Monday. According to him, “the command received a distress report on June 12, 2026, alleging that the victim, an indigene of Anambra State, was being unlawfully detained under inhumane conditions by her brother, Mr. Chinedu Aniekuoku.”
He said a team of detectives from the Katampe Division was deployed to the scene immediately the report came in. “Upon arrival, the suspect became hostile and resisted the officers, refusing them access to the premises where he had confined his sister,” the commissioner stated.
CP Sanusi said the officers eventually forced their way in. “However, the officers forcefully gained entry into the room and discovered the victim in chains, in an extremely emaciated condition and lying on her own waste under deplorable sanitary conditions,” he said.
The suspect was arrested at the scene, while the victim was taken to a hospital where she is currently receiving treatment. The commissioner said preliminary findings pointed to a possible motive tied to a missing child. “Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect had allegedly taken away the victim’s son to an unknown location about two years ago,” he said.
The police believe the prolonged confinement was intended to stop the woman from questioning the whereabouts of her child. CP Sanusi said efforts are ongoing to locate and rescue the missing boy, while the victim continues to receive medical care and rehabilitation. The suspect remains in custody and will be taken to court once investigations are concluded.
The rescue adds to a run of high-profile operations by the FCT Command in recent weeks. On June 9, 2026, the command rescued five kidnapped victims in the Paze and Byazhin communities, in an operation that CP Ahmed Sanusi personally led, with operatives engaging suspected kidnappers in a gun duel that left two suspects dead and two others arrested. The Katampe Division, which handled the Aniekuoku rescue, is the same district that drew national attention in September 2025, when Arise News anchor Somtochukwu Maduagwu and a security guard, Barnabas Danlami, were killed during a robbery at Unique Apartments, Katampe Extension, Mabushi, on September 29, 2025. Eleven suspects were later arraigned on a nine-count charge that included criminal conspiracy, armed robbery, and murder.
Cases of unlawful confinement and domestic abuse remain a recurring concern in Nigeria. The Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015, which applies in the FCT, criminalises unlawful confinement, infliction of physical injury, and related abuses, prescribing custodial sentences on conviction. Where investigators establish that a child was unlawfully removed, the suspect could face additional charges under the Child Rights Act and the Criminal Code.
What happens next will likely hinge on the medical evidence documenting the victim’s condition and the outcome of the search for her son. If the boy is found, his account, alongside the victim’s, could shape the eventual charges filed when the matter reaches court.