NAPTIP Smashes Major Child Trafficking Ring In Benue, Abuja — 300 Children Sold For Millions

According to Ireporter Online, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has uncovered a massive child trafficking and illegal adoption syndicate operating between Benue State and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The agency confirmed the rescue of 26 children and revealed that more than 300 others were sold across several states for amounts ranging between ₦1 million and ₦3 million per child.

In a statement issued on Sunday by NAPTIP’s Chief Press Officer, Vincent Adekoye, it was disclosed that investigations are ongoing to trace the remaining 274 missing children and expose the full extent of the criminal network. The agency’s field operation, which involved its Nasarawa, Lagos, and Enugu commands, led to the arrest of a 60-year-old orphanage operator and three accomplices. The main suspect, a well-known member of the National Council of Child Rights Advocates of Nigeria, allegedly masterminded the illicit operation.

Findings showed that the traffickers disguised their scheme under a deceptive humanitarian initiative known as the “Back to School Project.” The project was used to lure unsuspecting families in conflict-ravaged areas of Benue State’s Guma Local Government Area, including Daudu, Yelwata, and Ngban. They convinced local leaders and parents that the children would receive education and care, with promises to return them after three years. Many parents reportedly signed consent forms or gave verbal approval without realising the criminal intentions behind the programme.

NAPTIP disclosed that over 300 children, aged between one and thirteen, were taken from these communities and transferred to orphanages in Abuja, Nasarawa, Enugu, and Lagos. The children were later sold to unsuspecting couples under the guise of legal adoption. The agency further revealed that the syndicate altered the victims’ identities, issuing new names and forged birth certificates, with assistance from complicit officials.

Four orphanages linked to the illegal operation—located along Kaigini, Kubwa Expressway in Abuja, Masaka Area 1, Abacha Road in Mararaba, and behind the International Market in Mararaba—have been sealed pending further investigation.

The case reportedly began on May 1, 2025, when a concerned father in Benue petitioned NAPTIP after his four-year-old son was handed over to an NGO by his mother-in-law without his consent. When he requested the boy’s return, he was told it would only happen after three years. This complaint triggered a sweeping investigation across several states, uncovering a vast trafficking network and exposing systemic loopholes in Nigeria’s child adoption framework.

According to NAPTIP, one of the victims’ guardians confessed to paying ₦2.8 million as adoption fees and ₦100,000 in consultancy charges to a member of the group.

Describing the discovery as “mind-boggling,” NAPTIP’s Director-General, Binta Bello, condemned the incident as a national tragedy, vowing that all those involved would face severe legal consequences. She emphasized that children must never be treated as tradable commodities and expressed dismay at how some orphanage operators and NGOs had exploited public trust to prey on vulnerable families.

Bello reiterated the agency’s zero-tolerance stance toward human trafficking and fraudulent adoption practices, assuring that all illegal networks across the country would be dismantled. She also called on state governments to tighten regulation of orphanages, NGOs, and religious-based childcare institutions to prevent similar abuses.

According to data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Nigeria remains among the top five African nations affected by child trafficking, with victims often forced into labour, servitude, and illegal adoption. A joint 2023 report by UNICEF and NAPTIP revealed that thousands of Nigerian children are trafficked annually through fake orphanages aided by corrupt officials who manipulate documentation.