By Kazeem Waris
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has rescued more than 180 children allegedly trafficked from five states, as the agency moves against criminal syndicates operating under the guise of civil society organisations.
NAPTIP disclosed this yesterday, saying its latest operations led to the recovery of three children allegedly taken from a distressed family in Kajuru, Kaduna State, and found in a high-rise private building in a choice area of Onitsha, Anambra State.
Another child was recovered from the custody of a nurse at the Federal Medical Centre, Onitsha.
According to NAPTIP, the nurse confessed that she obtained the child from a prominent orphanage in Abuja in 2023 after paying N771,000.
The development followed growing concerns by the Director-General of NAPTIP, Binta Adamu Bello, over suspected trafficking networks moving through crisis-ridden communities under the guise of providing educational assistance and back-to-school programmes.
Bello said the syndicates allegedly exploit insecurity and the vulnerability of displaced families, using the platforms of civil society organisations to gain parents’ confidence before taking away their children under false pretences.
She said NAPTIP had, a few months ago, established a Special Squad within its Investigation and Monitoring Department to investigate reports of missing children, rescue trafficked minors and prosecute those behind the crimes.
The agency said the first batch of rescued children comprised minors allegedly taken from communities in Benue and Nasarawa states.
Investigations, it said, showed that some of the children were subsequently moved to orphanages in Abuja and other states, where they were allegedly sold to unidentified individuals under the guise of adoption after substantial sums had been paid.
Father finds son after three years
One of the rescued children was taken from his family in Kajuru three years ago when the community was attacked by suspected gunmen.
The boy’s father, whose identity was withheld, said he had given up hope of ever seeing his son again until he spotted the child’s photograph on NAPTIP’s Facebook page.
He said the family had allowed some individuals, who claimed to run an NGO providing educational support to children affected by insecurity, to take their children to the city.
“We never knew that they deceived us. They tricked us and took our children away,” he said.
The father said his son was three years old when he was taken and is now six.
“It is a mixture of joy and sadness for me because he looks very unkempt, unhappy, and it appears that he is being used as house help. On the other hand, I am happy that I am seeing him alive.”
He said he immediately contacted NAPTIP after recognising his son’s photograph online.
“I thank the Director-General of NAPTIP and the gallant officers of the agency for rescuing my son. This is just like a dream. I am happy,” he said.
NAPTIP warns CSOs
Bello expressed concern over the alleged involvement of individuals masquerading as members of civil society organisations in child trafficking, urging the umbrella body of CSOs in Nigeria to conduct an internal review and expose suspected criminal elements.
She said: “I am seriously disturbed by the activities of some persons masquerading as members of the Civil Society Organizations, who have been fingered in several issues of child trafficking from across the country.”
According to her, genuine humanitarian and anti-trafficking organisations must help protect the integrity of the sector by identifying and reporting infiltrators.
“From the various confessions of survivors and their relations as well as the investigation by NAPTIP, these criminal elements often use the platform of prominent and popular Civil Society Organizations to lure and deceive parents from security-challenged communities and villages, take away their children in the name of educational support, and disappear into thin air with the children,” Bello said.
She added that the children were allegedly later sold to individuals willing to pay the highest prices.
“This is criminal, and it is a direct way of adding more sorrow to already traumatized families,” she said.
Bello disclosed that NAPTIP had commenced a manhunt for persons implicated in its investigations, vowing that those arrested would be prosecuted.
“On our own part, we have commenced a manhunt for those mentioned in our investigation, and we shall ensure that they are made to face the full wrath of the law,” she said.
