In a major operation targeting suspected child trafficking networks, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, has rescued more than 180 children allegedly trafficked across five states,
The agency says some of the suspects allegedly posed as members of civil society organisations, exploiting families affected by insecurity and displacement by promising to provide education and other forms of support for their children.
The development is raising concerns for parents and guardians, particularly those in crisis-affected communities, as NAPTIP warns that seemingly genuine offers of education, welfare or adoption could be used as a cover for child trafficking.
The latest operation led to the recovery of three children allegedly taken from Kajuru in Kaduna State, who were found in a private building in Onitsha, Anambra State.
Another trafficked child was recovered from the care of a nurse at the Federal Medical Centre, Onitsha, who was subsequently arrested.
The nurse reportedly confessed that she obtained the child from an orphanage in Abuja in 2023 after paying seven hundred and seventy-one thousand naira.
NAPTIP’s Director-General, Binta Adamu Bello, says the agency is particularly disturbed by the alleged involvement of persons masquerading as civil society workers.
According to her, some of the suspected traffickers move into communities ravaged by insecurity, gain the trust of distressed families and offer to take their children to urban centres for education.
But instead of returning the children, the parents are allegedly deceived, while the children are moved elsewhere and, in some cases, allegedly sold to individuals under the guise of adoption.
The NAPTIP boss has therefore challenged the umbrella body of civil society organisations in Nigeria to carry out an internal cleansing and expose members allegedly involved in child trafficking.
She says NAPTIP has commenced a manhunt for other suspects identified through its investigations and will ensure they face the full weight of the law.
NAPTIP says the operation followed the establishment of a special squad within its Investigation and Monitoring Department after a series of reports of missing children.
Earlier operations by the squad led to the recovery of children allegedly trafficked from communities in Benue and Nasarawa States.
The agency says some of the children were taken to orphanages in Abuja and other states, where they were allegedly sold to unidentified individuals under the guise of adoption.
For one father from Kajuru, the latest recovery brought an end to three years of uncertainty.
He said his son was only three years old when people who claimed to run an NGO took him away, promising to provide him with education after the family was displaced by an attack.
The father said he eventually identified his son among photographs of recovered children published on NAPTIP’s social media page.
Reunited with his child, he described the experience as a mixture of joy and sadness, but said he was grateful to find his son alive.
NAPTIP says investigations are ongoing, with efforts continuing to recover more victims and track down those allegedly behind the trafficking networks.
For members of the public, the development is a reminder to verify individuals, orphanages, NGOs and other organisations before entrusting children to their care.