Fifteen children allegedly trafficked from Nasarawa State have been rescued from buyers across the country after a syndicate reportedly used promises of free education to obtain them from their parents.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) said the children were taken from Kama Madaki and Gudindi Mada communities in Kokona Local Government Area of Nasarawa State under a purported educational initiative known as the Back to School Project.
NSCDC Public Relations Officer, Babawale Afolabi, disclosed this on Friday at the corps’ headquarters in Abuja, where he said the children were allegedly sold for N2 million each.
Afolabi said a member of the suspected trafficking network posed as an official of the National Council of Child Rights Advocate (NCCRA), a civil society organisation, and approached parents with promises of securing free education for their children.
“Under the guise of operating an NGO and orphanage programme called the Back to School Project, he lured willing, less privileged parents into releasing their children with promises of free education,” the spokesman said.
The operation that led to the recovery was conducted by the Commandant General’s Special Intelligence Squad, headed by Commander Dandaura Appollos.
According to Afolabi, the intelligence team used field tracking, technical intelligence and coordinated operations across several states to locate the children and those who had acquired them.
He said 15 of the 16 trafficked children were recovered from different locations.
Three victims were found separately in Anambra, Imo and Enugu states, while the other 12 were recovered during a coordinated operation along eastern transit routes.
The operation also led to the arrest of three suspected buyers, comprising one man and two women.
Afolabi said the investigation was still in progress, adding that the corps would establish the roles played by those connected to the alleged trafficking network.
He said the NSCDC maintained a zero-tolerance position towards criminal activities, particularly human trafficking.
The spokesman added that suspects found culpable after the investigation would face prosecution.
The case exposes how vulnerable families can be targeted through seemingly beneficial offers. In this instance, the suspected traffickers allegedly presented education and an orphanage programme as the means of gaining the confidence of parents before taking custody of their children.
The NSCDC did not disclose the identities of the rescued minors, the suspects or the alleged buyers. It also did not state where the 16th child was located at the time of the briefing.
The corps said its investigation would determine the circumstances surrounding the children’s movement from Nasarawa and the alleged transactions involving their buyers.
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