Complainant says she paid N2.8m as ‘adoption fee’
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has dismantled a major child trafficking syndicate and arrested a 60-year-old Benue-based orphanage owner, described as a prominent member of a national network of orphanage operators and founder of the National Council of Child’s Right Advocates of Nigeria (NACCRAN).
According to NAPTIP, the suspect was apprehended in connection with a large-scale child trafficking operation spanning Benue, Enugu, Lagos, Nasarawa and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
A complainant, whose identity has been withheld for legal reasons, said she paid N2.8 million as an adoption fee and an additional N100,000 consultancy charge to a member of the syndicate operating under the guise of an orphanage.
The operation, led by NAPTIP’s Makurdi Command following a tip-off, resulted in the rescue of 26 children, while efforts are ongoing to trace about 274 others believed to have been trafficked and sold to orphanages across several states.
NAPTIP Director-General, Mrs Binta Bello, in a statement, described the 60-year-old suspect as the mastermind of the child trafficking network. She said a 34-year-old woman and two other orphanage operators in Abuja and Nasarawa were also arrested.
Bello expressed concern over the increasing involvement of some orphanage operators in child trafficking, stressing that “children are not commodities to be displayed in orphanages and sold to the highest bidders.”
Preliminary findings revealed that the children, aged between one and thirteen, were allegedly transported to orphanages in Abuja and Nasarawa, where they were sold under the pretence of legal adoption for between N1 million and N3 million each.
The crackdown followed a complaint lodged on May 1, 2025, by a father who alleged that his four-year-old son had been handed over to a non-governmental organisation (NGO) by his mother-in-law without his consent. The case led to a broader investigation that uncovered a network engaged in illegal adoptions.
NAPTIP explained that the syndicate operated mainly in rural communities under the guise of running a “Back to School Project” to recruit children from crisis-prone areas in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, particularly Daudu, Yelwata and Ngban, which have been affected by farmer–herder conflicts.
“Parents were misled into signing consent forms, believing their children would receive education, only to have over 300 children handed over to the suspects,” the agency said.
Bello described the discovery as “unbelievable and mind-boggling,” warning that all those involved in the act would face the full wrath of the law.
She also confirmed that several orphanages in Abuja linked to the syndicate were under investigation, as the agency continues efforts to rescue more victims and dismantle the trafficking network.
Photo and Caption: Binta Bello
