NAPTIP Rescues Over 180 Trafficked Children Across Five States

The agency disclosed this in a statement on Monday, revealing that its latest operations uncovered children who had been taken from vulnerable families under the guise of education, welfare and adoption programmes.

The most recent operation led to the recovery of three children allegedly taken from a distressed parent in Kajuru, Kaduna State, and found in a high-rise private building in a choice area of Onitsha, Anambra State.

Another child was also recovered from the care of a clinical staff member at the Federal Medical Centre, Onitsha.

NAPTIP’s Head of Press and Public Relations, Vincent Adekoye, said suspected trafficking syndicates were increasingly disguising themselves as members of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to gain the trust of vulnerable parents.

According to the agency, the criminals move into crisis-affected communities and offer to provide children with education or other forms of support, only to traffic them to different locations.

The Director-General of NAPTIP, Binta Bello, expressed concern over the growing activities of such syndicates and said the agency had established a Special Squad within its Investigation and Monitoring Department to track missing and trafficked children and bring perpetrators to justice.

The first batch of children recovered by the squad reportedly came from communities in Benue and Nasarawa states. NAPTIP said some of the children were taken to orphanages in Abuja and other states before being sold to unidentified individuals under the guise of adoption.

One of the rescued children was reportedly taken from Kajuru three years ago, when his community was attacked and displaced by gunmen.

The child’s father said people who claimed to operate an NGO approached affected families and offered to take their children to the city for proper education. He said the parents agreed, believing the offer would secure a better future for their children.

However, the children later disappeared, leaving their families without information about their whereabouts.

The father eventually identified his six-year-old son among children recovered by NAPTIP after seeing his picture on the agency’s Facebook page.

He expressed relief at being reunited with his son, although he said the child appeared unkempt and unhappy.

NAPTIP also disclosed that a nurse at the Federal Medical Centre, Onitsha, who was found with one of the rescued children, admitted to obtaining the child from a prominent orphanage in Abuja in 2023 after paying ₦771,000.

The agency said investigations are ongoing as it works to identify and prosecute those behind the trafficking networks.