The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons on Tuesday said it rescued eight children suspected of having been stolen from northern states and trafficked to the south.

This followed a raid on a popular orphanage in the Delta state capital, Asaba.

NAPTIP’s spokesperson, Vincent Adekoye, revealed the development in a statement he signed and released on Tuesday titled ‘NAPTIP rescues eight suspected stolen children from a popular orphanage in Asaba.’

The agency said the operation, conducted with the Department of State Services, the Nigerian police and local civil society groups, followed years of complaints from parents in Kano and neighbouring states over missing children.

According to the statement, syndicates posing as traders allegedly lured children aged between two and 10 from communities and transported them south, often vanishing overnight.

“In 2017, some parents in Kano and other States in the Region raised an alarm on the unwholesome activities of some syndicates who move from one Community to another other luring children mostly between the ages of two years to 10 years and trafficking them to other parts of the country.

“The investigation revealed that the syndicates operating under the guise of traders typically work in two batches.

“While a syndicate normally lives briefly within such a Community, gets used to the children, and later disappears with them, others come in as traders and operate from parks and terminals, where they lure unaccompanied children on their way to school and errands,” it read.

In the Asaba orphanage, operatives found over 70 children, including newborns, though only eight were confirmed as those abducted from Kano.

They have since been reunited with their families, the agency confirmed.

“The rescued children were identified through their pictures and other features by the representative of the concerned parents from Kano State, out of the over 70 children found inside the Orphanage, including neonates,” the statement quoted NAPTIP’s Director General, Binta Bello, as saying.

“NAPTIP is seriously worried over the unwholesome activities of these so–called orphanages and Care Homes. Imagine over 70 children inside an orphanage, and the number keeps increasing daily.

“The big question is, where are these children from?” she queried.

The activities of orphanages in Nigeria have increasingly come under public scrutiny in recent years, following investigations by journalists and campaigners into child trafficking rings.

In 2023, investigative journalist Fisayo Soyombo exposed how some facilities had been used as cover for the sale of babies, prompting calls for stricter regulation of children’s homes.

NAPTIP said cases of child kidnapping incidents climaxed in 2022 when another set of over 25 children were allegedly lured and trafficked out of the northern region by the same suspected syndicate.

This, it said, prompted a public outcry from stakeholders, including members of the Civil Society Organisation in the Communities within the states.

In a letter dated 15th December, 2022, a Non – Non-Governmental Organisation, Protection Against The Abduction of Our Children, in a petition addressed to the Director General of NAPTIP, titled, ‘Demand for Justice and Address the Child Abduction in Kano State and Nigeria’ sought the assistance of the Agency in rescuing the abducted children.

The organisation said, “On behalf of over 200 parents who are the victims of the series of abducted children, past and present, we are writing to seek your support and demand justice following the terrible experience we are facing.”

“We, the parents, are in serious pain. Some of us are already hospitalised, while others passed away due to the shock of the children abducted and the continuous uncertainty and suspense daily waiting for the report whether they will be found dead or alive”, one beleaguered parent lamented.

After a series of interactions with the Kano State Government through the State Ministry of Women Affairs, NAPTIP said it commenced a discreet investigation to ascertain the location of the suspected trafficked children to rescue them unhurt.

“This led to the intelligence-driven operations in Anambra and Delta States,” Adekoye wrote.

“While the operation in Awka, Anambra State, was unsuccessful as the syndicate reportedly moved the children away to an unknown location overnight, the operatives moved to Asaba and rescued eight of the suspected trafficked children from one of the popular orphanages located inside Asaba, the Delta State capital.

“Report from the operation indicated that while over 70 Children were discovered inside the Orphanage with about 15 newborn babies, only eight children were identified as allegedly stolen from Kano State, and they were subsequently rescued,” he stated.

NAPTIP’s Chief, Bello, explained that the rescued children were identified through photographs and distinguishing features by representatives of the affected parents from Kano, out of more than 70 children, including newborns, discovered in the orphanage.

She expressed deep concern over what she described as the unwholesome activities of some orphanages and care homes, questioning the origins of the large number of children housed in such facilities.

Bello accused the operator of the orphanage of evading investigation by turning to social media to spread falsehoods against the agency, instead of presenting himself to NAPTIP’s Kano Zonal Command.

She clarified that operatives met the owner’s wife during the raid but did not arrest her since she was not the target, and that contact information was left behind for the owner to reach the agency.

“On the day of the operation, our Operatives met the wife of the Owner of the Orphanage there. She was not arrested because she was not our target.

“She was informed of the allegation, and the necessary contact was left behind so that the Owner can reach us,” Bello explained.

She added, “Those children were rescued and taken to the necessary arm of the Government in Kano State.

“They have been duly identified and reunited with their families.

“So, the raw falsehood based on religious labelling being sold to the public through social media by this unpatriotic individual is regrettable, and it will not distract us from carrying out our mandate.”

The NAPTIP chief urged state ministries of women affairs across the country to scrutinise the activities of orphanages and care homes, pledging that the agency would continue its oversight role in line with the Trafficking in Persons (Control of Activities of Organisations and Centres) Regulations 2019.

She commended the DSS, the police, and other partners for their collaboration, stressing that the operation underscored NAPTIP’s commitment to combating child trafficking, protecting vulnerable children, and ensuring justice in line with the law. (The PUNCH)