NAPTIP Recovers More Than 180 Children Allegedly Trafficked Through Education Schemes
More than 180 children allegedly trafficked from vulnerable communities have been recovered by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), highlighting the growing risks faced by children from families affected by insecurity.
The children were reportedly abducted from five states by individuals claiming to be civil society groups and providing educational assistance to families, NAPTIP said. Some children were taken through orphanages and subsequently sold as “adopted” children, the agency said.
The operation comes after PREMIUM TIMES uncovered the kidnapping of over 300 children from conflict-stricken communities in Benue State under a scheme billed as “Back to School” support for families.
It is said that parents thought that their children would be educated, fed and housed before going back home during school vacations. Rather, many were reportedly sent to Abuja and Nasarawa State.
One child who was recovered in Kajuru, Kaduna State, was abducted when he was three years old, NAPTIP said, after his family was approached by individuals who claimed to be operating an NGO. The child, who is now six, was said to have been discovered when his father spotted his picture on NAPTIP’s Facebook page.
The father said he was both relieved and upset when he saw his son, as the child looked “unhappy and unkempt.
Another child was reportedly found with a nurse at the Federal Medical Centre in Onitsha. The nurse told investigators that she had been paid ₦771,000 to get the child from an unnamed orphanage, NAPTIP said.
According to the agency, 105 children have been recovered from the Benue operation, of which 101 have been reunited with their families.
NAPTIP called on civil society organisations to enhance their internal monitoring and identify persons who exploit their credibility to access vulnerable children.
