The Director General (DG) of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Binta Bello, has said that recent social media allegations suggesting that the agency engaged in abduction during a rescue operation in Asaba, Delta State, are false, malicious, and intended to enable the suspect to escape justice.

The operation, which rescued eight children from Happy Home Orphanage in Asaba, Delta State, who were allegedly stolen from Kano, has since generated negative narratives fueled by unsourced claims from the suspect involved, who has avoided cooperation with the agency, NAPTIP stated.

The DG said, “In recent weeks, various persons have commented innocently based on skewed narratives from the suspect. We (NAPTIP) do not abduct; we only rescue.
“As a law enforcement agency, we are accountable for our actions and must clarify the details of this operation.”

The agency referred to a petition submitted on December 16, 2022, by the Protection Act Against Abduction and Missing Children (PATAMOC), which requested justice in relation to child abductions in Kano State.

Following the petition, NAPTIP’s Kano Zonal Command began investigating reports of individuals involved in the trafficking of children, the DG explained.

She said that during their investigation, NAPTIP discovered that one Hauwa Abubakar, arrested in Gombe State, had admitted to selling 21 children to one Nkechi Odlyne, who in turn sold seven of them to the proprietor of Happy Home Children’s Orphanage, Asaba.
“She (Hauwa Abubakar) revealed that she sold seven children, including those sold to Christopher Ogugwu Nwoye, at ₦450,000 each,” the DG stated.
According to her, both Abubakar and her accomplice, Odlyne, are currently facing prosecution in Gombe.

During the operation on June 15, 2025, which aimed to rescue one of the identified missing children named Aisha Buhari, the NAPTIP team was accompanied by armed police officers to the Happy Home Orphanage in Asaba.
“We submitted a letter to the Delta State Commissioner of Police requesting support for our operatives. The mission was conducted lawfully under the Trafficking in Persons Prohibition Enforcement and Administration Act of 2015,” Bello said.

She added that at the orphanage, the team conducted a profile of 70 children found therein, identifying Aisha and several others with the help of local officials.

On why the proprietor was not arrested during the operation, the DG said, “We could not arrest anyone at the time because the proprietor was absent, and attempting to take the only adult (his wife) present would have caused issues.”

While NAPTIP has relocated the six children rescued to a more secure shelter due to conflicting claims regarding their identities, they will not be handed over to any claimants until thorough investigations, including DNA tests, are completed.
“We urge all claimants to engage with the agency for further investigation.
“Blackmail on social media will not aid any claims. We are committed to concluding this investigation, prosecuting those responsible, and ultimately reuniting the rescued children with their rightful families,” she insisted.

Furthermore, the agency has called on the Delta State Government to conduct a thorough investigation into the practices at the Happy Home Orphanage, aligning with statements from the state’s Commissioner for Women Affairs.