Many Nigerian Orphanages Now Havens For Stolen Children – Agency

Director-general of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) Binta Adamu Bello, has decried the activities of some orphanages, saying that a good number of them have become a haven for stolen children.

The DG made the assertion against the backdrop of the the rescue of eight children allegedly stolen from Kano and a few other states in Northern Nigeria and trafficked to the South–South and South East zones of the country.

NAPTIP said the children were moved by a wanted inter-state child trafficking syndicate which it refused to mention in a press statement that was issued on Tuesday.

NAPTIP said the victims were rescued from a popular, privately owned orphanage operated by one of the executive members of the umbrella body of the Association of Orphanage Operators in Nigeria. It also failed to name the name of the suspect.

The agency said the operation was carried out with the support of the operatives of the Department of the State Service (DSS), Anambra State Command, and the Delta State command of Nigeria Police, with the technical support of the Kano State Government through its Ministry of Women Affairs, organised civil society organisation in Kano State, as well as concerned parents.

The director general said, “The operation in question was carried out with precision, and it was purely intelligence-driven with the involvement of some partners of the anti-human trafficking agency.

She said the rescue operation  was a fallout of the persistent outcry of some distressed parents in Kano and other states within the region alleging the abduction of their children.

“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.

“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?

“The owner of the Home has been running from pillar to post on the matter, writing to various organs of government, and we have made it clear to him that he should go to our Kano Zonal Command and submit himself for investigation. Rather than doing the right thing, he is busy using social media to propagate absolute falsehood against 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.

“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.

“I wish to use this medium to call on State Ministries of Women Affairs across the Country to beam searchlights on the activities of these Orphanages and Care Homes that are increasing in numbers. We shall continue to carry out our oversight function on them in line with the provisions of the  Trafficking in Persons (Control of Activities of Organizations and Centres) Regulations 2019”.

Report from the operation indicated that while over 70 children were discovered inside the orphanage with about 15 newborn babies, eight children were identified as allegedly stolen from Kano State and subsequently rescued.

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 luring children mostly between the ages of 2 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.

According to spokesman for NAPTIP, Vincent Adekoye, the incident climaxed in 2022 as another set of over 25 children were allegedly lured and trafficked out of the region by the same suspected syndicate, thereby prompting a public outcry from stakeholders, including members of CSOs in the communities within the states.

In a letter dated 15th December, 2022, a non–governmental organization, Protection Against the Abduction Missing of Our Children (PATAMOOC), 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 organization 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 hospitalized, 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, ” the beleaguered parent lamented.