A poignant and complex resolution has brought to a close a painful wait of nearly three years for an Ivorian mother. Abducted in 2023 in Abobo when she was just a baby, a little girl, now 3 years old, was found on Tuesday, May 12, 2026 in Issia by her biological mother, B. Rokia.

This incredible discovery is the result of a meticulous investigation conducted by the Issia police station, uncovering the workings of a veritable alleged network of kidnappings and concealment of minors.

2023: The Abobo Tragedy

It all began in 2023 in the commune of Abobo. While attending a wedding ceremony organized in the family courtyard, Mrs. B. Rokia, a 33-year-old trader, suddenly lost track of her daughter, an infant of barely two and a half months.

Despite intensive and urgent searches in the neighborhood, hospitals, and police stations, the child remained missing. The case was closed, plunging the family into three long years of anguish and uncertainty.

The thread of Ariadne: An arrest in Issia

The turning point in the case came in May 2026 in Issia. Acting on a complaint from D. Lassiné (a 50-year-old mechanic) reporting the disappearance of his 6-year-old daughter and another infant from his family, the police arrested a 20-year-old woman, D. Waraba . Suspected of child abduction, she was arrested on Thursday, May 7, 2026.

News of the arrest spread and reached B. Rokia's ears. Guided by maternal instinct and a glimmer of hope, the businesswoman left Abobo and went immediately to Issia.

A mother's incredible intuition

Arriving on the scene on May 11, B. Rokia conducted her own investigations among the local residents. The very next day, her inquiries led her to the home of S. Nafou , the mother of the incarcerated suspect.

In the courtyard, she spotted a little girl playing. The child's features instantly struck her: the resemblance to her other children was undeniable. B. Rokia called out to the owner of the property and demanded to see her daughter. Faced with the categorical refusal of S. Nafou, who claimed to be the child's mother, the complainant immediately alerted the police station.

The lie of the "fake mother" exposed

Summoned by the police, S. Nafou maintains that she gave birth to the baby girl at home before obtaining a health record at the Issia General Hospital. However, skeptical, the investigators launched a three-day neighborhood inquiry. The neighbors' testimonies were conclusive:

1. S. Nafou has never been pregnant.
2. The girl was taken to the home by her daughter, D. Waraba, who was already known for similar acts.

Confessions from Daloa prison

Faced with this overwhelming evidence, the deputy prosecutor ordered the questioning of D. Waraba, who was then being held in Daloa prison for another kidnapping case. Interviewed on May 19, 2026, the young woman confessed: she admitted to stealing the baby in Abobo in 2023 and giving it to her mother.

Confronted with her daughter's confession, S. Nafou finally broke down. She admitted to having accepted the infant to compensate for her inability to conceive a child with her current husband. To justify the theft, she had even managed to obtain a false health record and then a birth certificate from the Issia town hall.

Judicial settling of scores: Ms. S. Nafou was remanded in custody on Friday, May 22, 2026, for complicity in the abduction of a minor. The juvenile judge ordered a DNA test to scientifically confirm the parentage between B. Rokia and the girl.

Towards the discovery of a national network?

The case could take on national proportions. During her interrogations, the main kidnapper, D. Waraba, confessed to having stolen and placed at least two other children across the country: one in Odienné and another with an elderly person in Issia.

Investigations are actively continuing to find these children, leading authorities to fear the existence of a vast child trafficking network in Ivory Coast.