The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has rescued 26 children and arrested several suspects, including the 60-year-old founder of a recognized child rights NGO, in a major operation against child trafficking.
The suspect, who leads the National Council of Child’s Right Advocates of Nigeria (NACRAN), is alleged to be at the center of a large-scale syndicate involving child sales and illegal adoptions. A 34-year-old female accomplice was also arrested.
The breakthrough followed a petition from a father who reported that his four-year-old son was given away without his consent. Investigations uncovered a wider network where over 300 children were allegedly trafficked from vulnerable, crisis-ridden communities in Benue State.
Preliminary findings reveal the suspects used a deceptive “Back to School Project” to convince parents in rural areas to hand over their children, promising to sponsor their education. Instead, the children were taken to orphanages in Abuja and Nasarawa State and sold to couples for sums between ₦1 million and ₦3 million per child under the guise of adoption.
NAPTIP’s Director-General, Hajia Binta Adamu-Bello, described the situation as “unbelievable and mind-boggling,” vowing that those arrested would face the full wrath of the law. The agency is continuing its investigation to locate over 274 other missing children and unravel the full extent of the syndicate’s activities.
