THE National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) says its operatives have rescued more than 180 children allegedly trafficked from five states by criminal groups posing as members of civil society organisations (CSOs).
News Point Nigeria reports that the agency said the suspects allegedly misled parents in various crisis-ridden communities by offering educational support and back-to-school programmes before taking the children away under false pretences.
The arrest and rescue operation followed concerns raised by NAPTIP Director-General, Binta Adamu Bello, over the activities of suspected trafficking syndicates targeting distressed communities, with the agency establishing a special squad within its Investigation and Monitoring Department to recover trafficked children and ensure those responsible are prosecuted.
Bello said the syndicates move from one distressed community to another, allegedly using the guise of providing educational assistance to gain the confidence of vulnerable parents before trafficking their children. She expressed concern over the alleged involvement of individuals posing as CSO members, while acknowledging the important roles played by genuine CSOs in humanitarian and anti-trafficking efforts.
Among the children rescued were three allegedly trafficked from a distressed parent in Kajuru, Kaduna State, to Onitsha, Anambra State, while another child was found in the care of a clinical staff member at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Onitsha. The nurse, who was questioned on Tuesday, reportedly told NAPTIP that she obtained the child from a prominent orphanage in Abuja in 2023 after paying N771,000. The agency said the name of the orphanage was withheld.
The first batch of children recovered by the special squad was allegedly taken from communities in Benue and Nasarawa states and moved to orphanages in Abuja and other states, where some were allegedly sold to unidentified individuals under the guise of adoption after money changed hands. NAPTIP said the operation forms part of its wider efforts to trace children allegedly removed from vulnerable families and bring those responsible to justice.
Bello said she was “seriously disturbed” by the activities of persons masquerading as members of civil society organisations who had been linked to several cases of child trafficking across the country. “I am confident that we have very committed members of the civil society organisations in Nigeria working in the humanitarian and counter-trafficking space,” she said, but added that criminal elements appeared to have infiltrated the sector.
“But it seems that they have been infiltrated by some criminal elements whose mission is to steal and traffic children for various forms of reasons,” Bello said, stressing that the suspected traffickers exploit the credibility of legitimate organisations to lure parents in security-challenged communities with promises of educational support before disappearing with their children.
One of the rescued children was reportedly taken from Kajuru when he was three years old after armed attacks displaced his family. His father said people who were known to some residents approached the displaced families, claiming to run an NGO that helped people affected by crises and promising to take their children to the city for proper education. He later lost contact with them and discovered his son had been rescued after seeing the child’s photograph on NAPTIP’s Facebook page.
The father, who was eventually reunited with his now-six-year-old son, expressed mixed emotions, saying the boy appeared unkempt and unhappy and seemed to have been used as a house help, but added that he was grateful to see him alive. He commended NAPTIP management and its officers for rescuing his son, describing the reunion as “just like a dream.”
Bello challenged the umbrella body of CSOs in Nigeria, particularly organisations working closely with NAPTIP in the counter-trafficking space, to carry out an internal cleansing and expose suspected criminal elements within their ranks.
She said such persons “must be flushed out”, adding that NAPTIP had commenced a manhunt for those identified in its investigations and would ensure that they faced the full wrath of the law.
She said NAPTIP would continue efforts to identify and dismantle the networks allegedly responsible for the trafficking and reunite rescued children with their families wherever possible, warning that exploiting already traumatised families under the guise of humanitarian or educational assistance was criminal and added more sorrow to vulnerable communities.