The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has busted a large-scale child trafficking and illegal adoption syndicate operating across Benue State and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, rescuing 26 children in the process.

According to a statement issued on Sunday by the agency’s Chief Press Officer, Vincent Adekoye, preliminary findings revealed that over 300 children had been sold across multiple states for between ₦1 million and ₦3 million per child.

“About 274 others are still being traced, as investigations intensify to unravel the full extent of the syndicate’s activities,” Adekoye said.

The operation, which involved field teams from Nasarawa, Lagos, and Enugu Commands, also led to the arrest of a 60-year-old orphanage owner, said to be a prominent member of the National Council of Child Rights Advocates of Nigeria, along with three accomplices.

NAPTIP’s investigations revealed that the suspects disguised their operations under a fake humanitarian programme called the “Back to School Project”, which they used to lure vulnerable families in crisis-hit communities in Benue State’s Guma Local Government Area.

“The suspects feasted on the vulnerability of rural communities through a voodoo initiative called the ‘Back to School Project,’ recruiting children from Daudu, Yelwata, and Ngban, areas badly affected by farmer-herder conflicts,” Adekoye explained.

The traffickers reportedly held meetings with traditional rulers and parents, promising to educate and sponsor the children, with a pledge to return them after three years. Many parents, unaware of the scheme’s criminal nature, signed consent forms or verbally agreed to release their children.

“Over 300 children were handed over to the suspects. Some parents did not even sign consent forms, while others were deceived into believing their children were being taken to school,” NAPTIP stated.

The children, aged between one and thirteen, were later transported to orphanage homes in Abuja, Nasarawa, Enugu, and Lagos, where they were sold to unsuspecting couples under the guise of adoption.

The traffickers allegedly altered the identities of many of the victims to frustrate tracing efforts, issuing new names and fabricated birth certificates with the help of complicit officials.

Four orphanages linked to the network, located along Kaigini, Kubwa Expressway (Abuja); Masaka Area 1 and Abacha Road, Mararaba; and behind the International Market, Mararaba, have since been sealed pending further investigation.

The case first came to light on May 1, 2025, after a father from Benue petitioned NAPTIP, alleging that his four-year-old son had been handed to an NGO by his mother-in-law without his consent.

“When he demanded the child’s return, he was told he could only see him after three years,” the agency said.

The complaint triggered a multi-state investigation, leading to the discovery of the syndicate’s vast network spanning multiple states and exposing deep flaws in Nigeria’s child adoption and orphanage regulatory systems.

“One complainant alleged that he paid ₦2.8 million as adoption fees and ₦100,000 as consultancy fee to a member of the syndicate,” NAPTIP disclosed.

NAPTIP’s Director-General, Binta Bello, described the development as “unbelievable and mind-boggling,” calling it a national crisis requiring immediate action.

“This is unacceptable. Those already arrested in connection with this wicked act shall face the full wrath of the law. Our children are not commodities to be displayed in orphanages and sold at will to the highest bidders,” Bello declared.

She lamented that some orphanage operators and NGOs had exploited their social status and public trust to deceive vulnerable families in conflict zones.

“It is painful that some unpatriotic elements with recognised entities now use their social class to deceive the already vulnerable people in crisis-prone communities and traffic their children, selling them to desperate parents under the guise of adoption,” she said.

Bello reiterated NAPTIP’s zero-tolerance stance on child trafficking, vowing to dismantle all fraudulent adoption rings operating across the country.

She also urged state governments to strengthen oversight of orphanages, NGOs, and religious-based childcare homes to prevent further exploitation.

“We are committed to rooting out all fraudulent adoption networks and ensuring that those complicit face justice,” she said.

According to data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Nigeria remains among the top five African countries for child trafficking, with victims often forced into labour, servitude, and illegal adoptions.

A 2023 joint report by UNICEF and NAPTIP estimated that thousands of Nigerian children are trafficked each year through fake orphanages, many aided by corrupt officials who falsify documentation.

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