The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has rescued more than 180 children allegedly trafficked by criminal groups operating under the guise of civil society organisations (CSOs).
The children were reportedly taken from communities across five states after the suspected traffickers approached parents with promises of educational assistance and back-to-school programmes.
According to NAPTIP, the groups allegedly targeted vulnerable communities affected by crises, convincing parents to release their children under the pretext of providing them with better educational opportunities.
The development followed concerns raised by NAPTIP Director-General, Binta Adamu Bello, over suspected trafficking networks moving from one distressed community to another.
In response, the agency established a special squad within its Investigation and Monitoring Department to track the networks, recover trafficked children and ensure that suspected perpetrators face prosecution.
Among those rescued were three children allegedly taken from a distressed parent in Kajuru, Kaduna State, and moved to Onitsha, Anambra State. Another child was reportedly found in the custody of a clinical staff member at the Federal Medical Centre, Onitsha.
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The staff member, who was questioned by NAPTIP, reportedly told investigators that she obtained the child from a prominent orphanage in Abuja in 2023 after paying N771,000. The agency did not disclose the name of the orphanage.
NAPTIP said the first batch of children recovered by the special squad had allegedly been taken from communities in Benue and Nasarawa states and moved to orphanages in Abuja and other parts of the country.
The agency further alleged that some of the children were subsequently sold to unidentified individuals under the guise of adoption after payments had been made.
Bello expressed concern over the alleged infiltration of the civil society sector by criminal elements, stressing that genuine CSOs have continued to play important roles in humanitarian assistance and the fight against human trafficking.
She said NAPTIP would intensify efforts to identify and dismantle the networks behind the alleged trafficking activities.
The agency also said it would work towards reuniting the rescued children with their families wherever possible.
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