NAPTIP rescues eight abducted Kano children from Delta orphanage

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has rescued eight children suspected to have been abducted from Kano and neighbouring states and trafficked to the South.

The rescue followed a joint operation with the Department of State Services (DSS), the police and civil society groups on a popular orphanage in Asaba, Delta State.

NAPTIP spokesperson, Vincent Adekoye, who confirmed the development in a statement, said the raid was the culmination of years of complaints from parents in Kano over missing children.

According to him, syndicates posing as traders lured children aged between two and 10 years from communities in the North and trafficked them to the South.

He said: “Investigations revealed that the syndicates typically operated in two ways. Some would live briefly within a community, build trust with the children, and later disappear with them. Others posed as traders at parks and terminals, targeting unaccompanied children.”

At the orphanage, operatives discovered over 70 children, including newborns. Eight of them were identified as missing children from Kano and have since been reunited with their families.

NAPTIP Director-General, Prof. Binta Bello, expressed concern over the activities of some orphanages and care homes.

“Imagine over 70 children inside a single orphanage, with the number increasing daily. The question is, where are these children coming from?” she asked.

She noted that while the orphanage owner evaded operatives, his wife was met during the raid. She was informed of the allegations and asked to relay the agency’s contact.

Bello dismissed claims on social media that the agency was acting on religious bias, insisting the rescue operation was intelligence-driven and targeted at suspected trafficking rings.

She commended the DSS, police and other partners for their collaboration, pledging that NAPTIP would sustain its clampdown on unregistered homes and illegal adoption centres.

The rescued children have been handed over to the Kano State Government through the Ministry of Women Affairs for proper care and rehabilitation.