The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has rescued more than 180 children allegedly trafficked from five states, uncovering a network of suspected criminal groups operating under the guise of civil society and humanitarian organisations
The agency also arrested a nurse at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Onitsha, Anambra State, after she was allegedly found in possession of one of the trafficked children.
According to a statement on Monday by the spokesman of the agency, Vincent Adekoye, the latest operation led to the recovery of three children allegedly taken from distressed families in Kajuru, Kaduna State, and moved to a high-rise private building in a choice area of Onitsha.
He revealed that another trafficked child was recovered from the care of the nurse at FMC Onitsha.
He noted that the development has prompted the Director General of NAPTIP, Binta Bello to challenge the umbrella body of civil society organisations in Nigeria to conduct an internal investigation and flush out criminal elements allegedly using the identity and platforms of legitimate organisations to traffic children.
Bello said the agency had uncovered a disturbing pattern in which suspected trafficking syndicates targeted communities devastated by insecurity and other crises, presenting themselves as organisations offering educational assistance and back-to-school programmes.
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, the suspected criminals exploit the vulnerability of parents in conflict-affected communities by promising to take their children to urban centres for education and welfare support, only to traffic and allegedly sell them.
Bello said the criminal elements appeared to have infiltrated the civil society space despite the presence of genuine organisations working with NAPTIP in humanitarian and counter-trafficking efforts.
“It seems that they have been infiltrated by some criminal elements whose mission is to steal and traffic children for various forms of reasons,” she said.
She disclosed that the agency had commenced a manhunt for persons identified during its investigations, promising that those found culpable would face the full weight of the law.
The NAPTIP boss also urged civil society organisations, particularly those operating in the counter-trafficking space, to conduct an “in-house cleansing” and expose members involved in criminal activities.
She said; “I want to challenge the umbrella body of the Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria, especially those working closely with us in the counter trafficking space, to carry out in-house cleansing and expose those suspected to be criminal elements among them. They must be flushed out.”
One of the rescued children’s fathers, whose identity was withheld, recounted how his three-year-old son was taken from Kajuru after gunmen invaded the community three years ago.
According to him, after residents were displaced, some people known to the community approached affected families, claiming to operate an NGO providing assistance to victims of insecurity.
They reportedly persuaded parents to release their children to them for education in the city.
The father said he later lost contact with the people and could no longer locate his son.
His son, now six, was eventually identified among children recovered by NAPTIP after he saw his photograph on the agency’s Facebook page.
“I am overwhelmed with joy because I had initially lost hope of seeing my son,” he said.
The father, however, expressed mixed emotions after seeing the boy, saying he appeared unkempt and unhappy and seemed to have been used as a domestic worker.
“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 thanked the NAPTIP management and its officers for recovering his son, describing the reunion as “just like a dream.”
In another development, the nurse arrested at FMC Onitsha reportedly confessed during investigation that she obtained the child from a prominent orphanage in Abuja in 2023.
According to NAPTIP, the nurse admitted paying N771,000 for the child.
The agency said the development formed part of its ongoing investigation into the network through which children allegedly taken from vulnerable families are transferred to orphanages and subsequently sold to individuals under the guise of adoption.
NAPTIP had earlier established a Special Squad within its Investigation and Monitoring Department following a series of reported cases of missing children across the country.
The squad was specifically tasked with tracing and recovering allegedly trafficked children and bringing those responsible to justice.
The first batch of children recovered by the squad were reportedly taken from communities in Benue and Nasarawa States before being moved to orphanages in Abuja and other states.
NAPTIP alleged that some of the children were subsequently sold to unidentified individuals under the guise of adoption after substantial sums of money had exchanged hands.
The latest recoveries, according to the agency, have strengthened its investigation into the suspected trafficking networks and those allegedly operating behind legitimate-looking humanitarian and civil society activities.
