Mother ‘sold daughter’s abuse videos for $300’: Nigeria child pornography case shocks nation

Mother ‘sold daughter’s abuse videos for $300’: Nigeria child pornography case shocks nation

• Nigerian father recounts how he discovered wife was allegedly sexually abusing their daughter: from denial to confession

Summary: A 36-year-old Nigerian mother has been arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing her eight-year-old daughter and uploading pornographic content involving the child to an online platform for financial gain. Her husband discovered the alleged abuse after a friend showed him a video circulating online. The wife initially denied the allegations, claiming the footage was AI-generated, but later confessed at a police station. Police rescued four children and recovered sex toys and other evidence. The case has sparked widespread outrage across Nigeria, with the Anambra State First Lady intervening to demand a thorough investigation and rehabilitation support for the rescued children.

According to reports from Punch and Vanguard, Ikechukwu Onyeanyusi was returning from his business on the evening of Thursday, 10 September 2026, when a friend called him and showed him a video that was circulating online. Speaking in a video posted on the Facebook page of the Anambra State Ministry of Women and Social Welfare, Onyeanyusi recalled: “I saw the video. It was my wife, and I saw my daughter. She was molesting the child.” Describing his reaction, he said: “I got a bit confused — ‘What is this? What is happening? Could this be true?’ Immediately, I wanted to leave, but my friend held me. He said no, no, I should calm down, I should take it easy.”

Onyeanyusi later confronted his wife, Anulika Onyeanusia, at their home. According to his account, she initially denied the allegation entirely and claimed the video was generated using artificial intelligence (AI). “I came to her, and I asked her, ‘What exactly is this that I saw on the internet?’ She said what? ‘I saw your video molesting my daughters. How come this happened?’ She said no. That it’s not true,” he recounted. According to him, when he asked her how she could deny what he had seen, she maintained that the video was not genuine. “I saw you! I saw your video! I saw everything, and you are telling me it’s not true? What makes it not to be true?” “And she said that it’s AI,” he said. Onyeanyusi even returned to his friend to ask whether the video could actually have been generated by AI — suggesting he still held onto a sliver of doubt, hoping the footage might be a technological fabrication.

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Shortly after the confrontation, police officers arrived at the family’s residence. According to a police statement, the Anambra State Police Command acted on open-source intelligence on 10 September, tracing the disturbing viral video and identifying the suspect. Onyeanyusi recalled: “Before I knew it, police had already come to my house. They said they wanted to search. I said to them, ‘Okay.’ So they did all the searching they did, they arrested her and all of us left.” During the operation, police rescued four children, aged two, three, six and nine, and recovered sex toys and other items relevant to the investigation.

At the police station, the wife eventually admitted to the allegation. Onyeanyusi described the moment: “When they were asking her in the police station, that is when she accepted that it is true. The DPO called me because I was outside while she was inside the office with the DPO. And the DPO asked me in her presence, ‘Do you know about what your wife is doing with my… daughters?’ I said, ‘No, I don’t know.’ Then they asked her, ‘Did your husband know about this?’ And she also said no, that ‘he didn’t know about it.’ That is when I turned to her, I asked her, ‘Did you do this, really?’ And she said yes.” Onyeanyusi said he was devastated by the admission: “I got weak. I got tired. How come this kind of a thing can happen? How can you do this kind of a thing? I just sat down in the police office, I can’t get myself. I was, you know, reasoning, ‘What is this? What has happened to me?'”

According to reports from Eagle Online and The Source, Onyeanusia told investigators that she uploaded content involving her daughter to a pornographic platform for money. She admitted that the highest amount she received from uploading such content was $300. She also disclosed that the eight-year-old girl seen in the video was her second child. Preliminary police investigations indicated that Onyeanusia may have subjected her first daughter to similar abuse, uploading the resulting content to a pornographic platform. During questioning, the suspect reportedly blamed the devil for her actions and pleaded for forgiveness, while maintaining that her husband was unaware of what she had been doing.

Anambra State Police Command spokesperson SP Tochukwu Ikenga confirmed the arrest in a statement. He said the Commissioner of Police, CP Nnanna Oji Ama, described the alleged act as unacceptable, particularly because it involved the exploitation of children who are incapable of protecting themselves. The Commissioner directed a thorough and professional investigation while ensuring the rescued children receive appropriate care and protection. The statement emphasised: “Beyond investigation and prosecution, the priority of the police command is the safety, dignity and wellbeing of the rescued children.” Police will work with child-protection agencies to ensure the victims receive necessary care, protection, counselling and other rehabilitation support. Police also disclosed that the suspect’s husband was being interrogated to determine whether he had any connection with the alleged offence.

Anambra State First Lady Dr Nonye Soludo condemned the alleged abuse in strong terms, describing it as “deeply disturbing” and “beyond comprehension.” She said: “There are certain things that simply defy comprehension, and the abuse of innocent children is one of them. Children deserve to be protected, loved and given the space to grow safely — not subjected to any form of sexual exploitation or abuse.” She urged the police to conduct a “thorough, transparent and professional investigation that leaves no stone unturned,” to establish the full facts, identify all those who may have been involved, and ensure the law takes its full course where wrongdoing is established. The First Lady stressed the importance of aftercare for the four rescued children: “Beyond immediate rescue, we must focus on what happens next. The physical safety of a child is only the beginning; we must also heal the emotional and psychological wounds they may have suffered.” She pledged to follow the case closely and work with relevant government agencies to provide the children with necessary medical, psychological, social and rehabilitation support.

Mother ‘sold daughter’s abuse videos for $300’: Nigeria child pornography case shocks nation