NAPTIP busts child trafficking syndicate, arrests seven

Operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, in collaboration with the Department of State Services, have dismantled an interstate child trafficking syndicate.

The operatives arrested a female truck driver and six other suspects in Abuja.

The syndicate, which specialised in stealing and trafficking children from one part of Nigeria to the other, were arrested while trying to sell off a 3-year-old girl stolen from Damaturu, Yobe State.

NAPTIP’s Chief Press Officer, Vincent Adekoye, revealed this in a statement on Tuesday.

The statement is titled ‘End of the road for an interstate human trafficking syndicate as a female arrowhead and truck driver of a popular cement company based in Lokoja, 6 other members, arrested for suspected stealing and trafficking of a child.’

The operation led to the arrest of 33-year-old Hasana Jacob, from Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State, who doubles as a truck driver for a popular cement company based in Obajana, near Lokoja, Kogi State.

Jacob was apprehended while attempting to sell the three-year-old girl allegedly stolen from Damaturu, Yobe State.

Also arrested were Aisha Suleiman, Murtala Tanimu, Shamsu Tanimu, Adamu Jacob, Abubakar Ahmed, and Ali Muhammed, all suspected members of the trafficking network.

Adekoye said preliminary investigations revealed that the syndicate specialises in abducting children aged one and above, transporting them across the country using a branded cement truck to evade suspicion and selling them to unknown buyers for as much as N600,000 each.

The gang reportedly operates through a network of recruiters and buyers strategically placed across various states, making it easy to move and dispose of stolen children swiftly.

“The report indicates that because Hasana is a Truck Driver with this popular Cement Company, it was very easy for her to steal children at any of the terminals across the Country, evade security checks on the roads, and deliver such stolen children to her gang members at any location without being noticed.

“It is strongly suspected that the syndicate has membership across the Country with different roles.

“While some members of the trafficking ring hunt and lure victims to the truck terminal-where they will be picked up by Hasana-others arrange interested buyers at any of the terminals across the country even before the arrival of the victim, thereby making it fast for the gang leader to dispose of the stolen child and collect her money,” the statement read.

Reacting to the development, NAPTIP’s Director-General, Binta Bello, described the incident as a “heinous crime against humanity”, expressing shock over the role played by Jacob in leading the syndicate.

Represented by the Director of Research and Programme Development, Mr. Josiah Emerole, she said, “I am deeply saddened by the latest arrest. It is painful to note that human beings will organise a criminal gang, use a branded vehicle of a Company, move from one part of the Country to another, steal children belonging to other families, and sell them to interested buyers whose motives for the children are not known.

“They create everlasting sorrow and pain for those families and smile to the bank after selling those children. This is unimaginable and it is a condemnable act of wickedness.

“This is more painful when the arrowhead of this evil syndicate is a woman who knows the pain of motherhood.”

The Director General commended the DSS for its unwavering support and collaboration, which, she said, was crucial to the success of the operation.

She called on other law enforcement agencies and stakeholders to deepen cooperation in order to protect Nigerian children from the menace of trafficking.

Meanwhile, the 22-tire cement truck used in the illicit operation has since been impounded by NAPTIP as investigations continue.