The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has uncovered a large-scale child trafficking and illegal adoption syndicate operating in Benue State and other parts of the country. The agency arrested a 60-year-old prominent member of the orphanage owners’ association in Nigeria and founder of a well-known civil society group, the National Council of Child’s Right Advocates of Nigeria (NACRAN), over alleged involvement in child sale and trafficking.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by NAPTIP’s National Press Officer, Vincent Adekoye, operatives of the agency’s Makurdi Command rescued 26 children from the syndicate, while over 274 others are still being traced. The rescued victims were reportedly among more than 300 children trafficked and sold to individuals across Benue, Enugu, Lagos, Nasarawa, and Abuja.
Adekoye disclosed that a 34-year-old woman believed to be an accomplice, along with two other orphanage operators in Abuja and Nasarawa State, were also arrested after some trafficked children were recovered from their facilities.
The development followed a recent directive by NAPTIP’s Director-General, Binta Bello, ordering a nationwide crackdown on orphanages and care homes suspected of illegal operations.
The case, Adekoye said, began on May 1, 2025, when a man petitioned the agency after his four-year-old son was allegedly given out to an NGO by his mother-in-law without his consent. The father was told he could only see his son after three years, prompting NAPTIP to launch an investigation that uncovered the wider trafficking network.
Preliminary findings revealed that the suspects exploited vulnerable families in crisis-hit communities in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State under a deceptive scheme called the “Back to School Project.” The suspects reportedly held meetings with villagers and local chiefs, convincing them that the initiative would sponsor children’s education. Parents were deceived into signing consent forms or verbally agreeing to release their children with promises of reunion after three years.
Investigations showed that the children, aged between one and thirteen, were taken to orphanages in Abuja and Nasarawa, where they were allegedly sold to couples under the guise of adoption, with payments ranging from ₦1 million to ₦3 million per child.
NAPTIP identified four orphanages in Kaigini (Kubwa Expressway, Abuja), Masaka Area 1, and Mararaba (both in Nasarawa State) as holding centres for the trafficked children. The facilities are currently under investigation.
One complainant reportedly paid ₦2.8 million as an adoption fee and ₦100,000 as a consultancy fee to a syndicate member. Many of the rescued children’s identities were also altered, making tracing and family reunification difficult.
Describing the discovery as “unbelievable and mind-boggling,” NAPTIP Director-General, Binta Bello, condemned the activities of corrupt orphanage operators who exploit vulnerable families under the guise of charity.
“It is painful that some unpatriotic elements with recognized status now use their influence to deceive people in crisis-prone communities and traffic their children, selling them under the pretext of adoption. This is unacceptable,” Bello said.
She vowed that all those arrested in connection with the crime would face the full weight of the law, adding: “Our children are not commodities to be displayed in orphanages and sold to the highest bidders. This must stop.”
