The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has rescued over 180 children. These children were allegedly trafficked from five states by criminal groups pretending to be civil society organisations. These groups offered educational help to families affected by insecurity.
Vincent Adekoye, who leads the Press and Public Relations Unit at NAPTIP, shared this news in a statement on Monday in Abuja.
Mr Adekoye revealed that the latest operation rescued three children taken from a displaced family in Kajuru, Kaduna State. Another child was found in the care of a nurse at the Federal Medical Centre in Onitsha, Anambra State.
This follows a report by PREMIUM TIMES that more than 300 children were allegedly taken from Yelewata, Daudu, and Agban communities in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State in 2024. Individuals had posed as operators of a “Back-to-School” programme for vulnerable children.
Parents told PREMIUM TIMES they were promised free education, food, and accommodation. They were told their children would come home during Christmas and Easter holidays. Instead, many children were allegedly taken to orphanages in Abuja and Nasarawa State before being moved elsewhere.
NAPTIP said the first group of children rescued in this operation included kids taken from Benue and Nasarawa states. Some were sent to orphanages, where they were reportedly sold under the guise of adoption.
The agency's investigation into the Benue case previously linked Anderson Archibong, the Executive Secretary of the National Council of Child Rights Advocates of Nigeria (NACCRAN), to this trafficking network.
According to NAPTIP, the latest operation shows that similar tactics are being used in other conflict-affected areas.
NAPTIP Director-General Binta Adamu Bello expressed her concern about people pretending to be part of Civil Society Organisations. She noted that these individuals are involved in several child trafficking cases across the country.
“Some people masquerading as members of Civil Society Organisations have disturbed me greatly,” Mrs Bello said.
She explained that criminal elements have infiltrated genuine organisations and use their credibility to access vulnerable families. “These criminal elements often use the names of popular Civil Society Organisations to deceive parents from struggling communities and take their children under the guise of educational support,” she said.
“They then sell these children to the highest bidders. This is a crime and adds more pain to families already suffering.”
The recent operation was carried out by a special squad set up in NAPTIP's Investigation and Monitoring Department. This squad was formed after reports of missing and trafficked children across Nigeria.
NAPTIP said the squad is working to trace children allegedly taken from vulnerable communities and bring the culprits to justice.
One child rescued in this operation had been taken from Kajuru when he was only three years old. His father explained that their family was displaced by armed attacks when people claiming to run an NGO offered to take their children to the city for education.
“We never knew they deceived us. They tricked us and took our children away,” the father said.
The child is now six years old, according to NAPTIP. The father learned his son had been rescued after seeing his photo on NAPTIP’s Facebook page.
“I am overwhelmed with joy because I had initially lost hope of seeing my son,” he said. “It is a mix of joy and sadness for me because he looks unkempt, unhappy, and it seems he was used as a house help. On the other hand, I am glad he is alive.”
In another case, NAPTIP mentioned a nurse at the Federal Medical Centre, Onitsha, found with one of the trafficked children. The nurse said she got the child from an orphanage in Abuja in 2023 after paying N771,000.
NAPTIP did not name the orphanage involved. The agency’s findings support a key point from the PREMIUM TIMES investigation: families displaced by conflict are targeted by those who promise education and welfare to gain their trust.
In the Benue case, NAPTIP stated that over 300 children aged between one-and-a-half and 13 years were allegedly taken from Yelewata, Daudu, and Agban. So far, NAPTIP has rescued 105 children linked to this operation, with 101 reunited with their families and four still in their care.
Mrs Bello called on Nigeria’s umbrella body for civil society organisations, especially those in humanitarian and counter-trafficking work, to investigate members suspected of being involved in trafficking.
“I challenge the umbrella body of the Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria, especially those working with us in counter trafficking, to cleanse their ranks and expose those suspected of being criminals,” she said. “They must be flushed out.”
She added that NAPTIP has started a manhunt for suspects identified in their investigations. “We have begun a manhunt for those mentioned in our investigation, and we will ensure they face the law,” Mrs Bello said.
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