The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons(NANTIP) on Sunday disclosed that it has uncovered a large-scale child trafficking and illegal adoption syndicate operating out of Benue State and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The agency’s Chief Press Officer, Vincent Adekoye, who made this disclosure through a statement issued on Sunday, said the operation, which involved field teams in Nasarawa, Lagos and Enugu, led to the rescue of 26 trafficked children, out of more than 300 reportedly sold across multiple states for between ₦1 million and ₦3 million per child.
“About 274 others are still being traced, as investigations intensify to unravel the full extent of the syndicate’s activities The operation also led to the arrest of a 60-year-old orphanage owner and founder of a well-known non-governmental organization, “Adekoye said in the statement.
According to the statement, the suspect, a prominent member of the Orphanage Owners’ Umbrella Body in Nigeria and founder of the National Council of Child Rights Advocates of Nigeria, was arrested alongside three alleged accomplices in a coordinated sting led by NAPTIP’s Makurdi Command.
The agency statement added that the syndicate disguised itself as a humanitarian initiative called the “Back to School Project”, a front used to deceive crisis-ridden communities in Benue’s Guma Local Government Area into surrendering their children for supposed educational sponsorship.
The statement read, “Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects feasted on the vulnerability of the rural Communities in Bene State through a voodoo initiative called “Back to School Project” to recruit children from crisis-ridden communities in Guma LGA, especially in areas affected by farmer–herder conflicts such as Daudu, Yelwata, and Ngban, and trafficked them to Abuja, Nasarawa, Enugu, and Lagos States.”
Adekoye continued, “The suspects organised meetings with villagers and traditional leaders, convincing them that the project would sponsor children’s education.
“Parents were deceived into signing consent forms or verbally agreeing to release their children, with promises that they would see them again after three years. Over 300 children were reportedly handed over to the suspects. Some parents were unaware or did not sign any consent forms.
“The children, aged between one and thirteen years, were transported to orphanage homes in Abuja and Nasarawa States, where they were allegedly sold to interested couples under the guise of adoption for amounts ranging from ₦1m to ₦3m per child.”
NAPTIP said the children’s identities were altered to frustrate tracing efforts, with new names and fabricated birth records issued through some complicit officials.
Four orphanages linked to the network, located along Kaigini, Kubwa Expressway, Abuja; Masaka Area 1, Abacha Road, Mararaba; and behind the International Market, Mararaba, have been sealed pending investigation.
The case came to light on May 1, 2025, when a distraught father petitioned NAPTIP, alleging that his four-year-old son had been given to an NGO by his mother-in-law without his consent.
The complaint, NAPTIP said, triggered an investigation that uncovered a wider multi-state network of child trafficking, illegal adoption, and forgery, one that exploited Nigeria’s weak regulatory framework for children’s homes.
“One complainant alleged that he paid N2.8m as an adoption fee and N100,000 consultancy fee to a member of the syndicate.
“The identities of many rescued children had been changed, complicating tracing efforts,” the statement read.
NAPTIP’s Director-General, Binta Bello, condemned the operation as “unbelievable and mind-bugling,” calling it a “national crisis” that demands urgent government and public response.
She said the issues of child trafficking and adoption are becoming a national crisis that requires urgent attention from all relevant stakeholders.
“This is unacceptable, and those already arrested in connection with this wicked act shall be made to face the full wrath of the law.
“Our Children are not commodities to be displayed in Orphanages and sold at will to the highest bidders. This must stop”, the NAPTIP Boss stated.
