Security
Woman Who Sold Over 120 Children Under Prosecution – NAPTIP
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons (NAPTIP) has disclosed that a woman who has sold over 120 Children has been arrested and is now facing prosecution.
This is coming just as the agency has also disclosed that in it’s 20 years of existence, it has no tracking machine.
The Director-General of NAPTIP, Prof Fatima Waziri-Azi stated this when she appeared before the Senate Committee on Special Duties.
According to Fatima, apart from the prosecution of the woman whose name she couldn’t disclose, said they are also investigating a lot of fake orphanages and those who fake documents to run organizations they are using to traffick children.
“We are currently prosecuting a woman who has sold over 120 children. Young girls are lured into baby making machines where they are camped in houses and they sleep with different men,” Fatima said, adding that Human traffickers have capitalized on the japa syndrome and are now exploiting Nigerians.
“We have 32 offices in the country. We don’t have offices in Kogi, Niger and Bauchi State and we spent a lot from our shelters.
“We feed the victims, cloth them, provide support, trace their families and also help in repatriation,” Fatima said, adding that 20,200 victims have received support.
According to Fatima, there are a lot of rescued victims in Lagos, Katsina, Kano and Abuja with Benue having the highest number of rescued victims.
Fatima said NAPTIP has secured 639 convictions in 20 years adding that in 2021 alone, they received 1,232 human trafficking complaints.
“Every State in Nigeria is faced with trafficking especially Jigawa, Kano, Katsina. Before it was Edo state,” Fatima said, adding that they have always relied on donors to fund their activities, which is inadequate. We are supporting 32 victims in school, additional 21 in university.
“We existed for 20 years, but we don’t have a tracking device. We rely on Interpol, DSS for the machines we use in tracking,” Fatima added.
On the cases of baby factories, Fatima said the issue is so pervasive adding that just this year alone, in collaboration with the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Navy, they combed a number of baby factories.
“I know we did one in Anambra, we did another one in Rivers State. But they pop up everywhere and they are predominant in mostly the South-South part and South-East part of Nigeria. Currently, we are prosecuting a woman who sold about a hundred and forty-something children in two years. We also are working with a group of parents whose children were stolen from different communities in Nasarawa State.
“Some of these children we are still working on recovering them. In fact, there’s a young boy, he’s called Daniel. Daniel should be three years old now. He was rescued, I think, probably at the end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022, I don’t remember. And when he was rescued, two families came up and said, this little child was their child, and we were forced to conduct a DNA test, and none of it matched at our shelter.
“These are the kind of cases that we see every day. We are currently investigating a lot of fake orphanages, a lot of people who go and forge documents and deceive people who really want to adopt children. So this is a situation that we are aware of and this is a situation that we know as an agency we can tackle on our own, which is why we are working with the Nigerian Armed Forces, DSS, and the police. We are collaborating with everyone because even though under the Trafficking in Persons Act, it does not categorically provide for baby factories, but we have a crime against buying and selling of children. And of course, baby factories fit in nicely into that and sometimes people just think that people leave their children on the streets and probably maybe they get stolen or young girls decide to be baby-making machines.
“We have a situation where young girls are lured under the guise of being offered a job. When you go there, they of course take your phones, they lock you up in a room and consistently different men come every day to rape you until you get pregnant. And once you give birth, they take that child. Just very recently, a few months ago, we got information of a Nigerian woman who was living in Jabi Park. She was living in a box and this is a woman who was completely out of her mind. Even though sometimes the brief interaction that we had with her, she has lucid intervals but largely most times in the day, you know, she’s completely out of her mind.
“At the time she was rescued, she was six months pregnant and that was her third pregnancy. So what happens is at night different men come
they sleep with her, she gets pregnant, and once she gives birth, they take the child away. So we’re able to locate her family in Cross River or Akwa Ibom and she was reunited with her family. For years, her family didn’t even know where she was. So these are the kind of things that we see,” Fatima added.
The Oodua Integrity Group, a Nigerian civil society organisation, has called on Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun to investigate and arrest an alleged gun runner, land grabber,popularly called then insert Lucky Blessings Abuah aka bullets of Achala Ibusa village operating in Asaba and Ibuzor, Delta State, accusing him of orchestrating criminal activities with the aid of rogue police officers.
Tosin Olaoluwa, the group’s South-South coordinator, made the appeal following intelligence gathered from concerned residents.
The suspect, identified as Achala Ibusa but popularly known as “Bullet,” is accused of running a network involving illegal arms trafficking, land grabbing, and cult-related activities.
Olaoluwa claimed Bullet operates with the protection of police officers from Rivers State, in violation of regulations prohibiting officers from working outside their command without approval.
According to the group, four AK-47 rifles were recently discovered hidden in a house in Ibuzor.
Two mobile police officers guarding the property reportedly distanced themselves from the find, raising suspicions of their involvement with Bullet, who is allegedly a leader of the Viking cult.
The Oodua Integrity Group further alleged that an assistant commissioner of police is complicit in Bullet’s activities.
The group highlighted that up to 10 mobile police officers are attached to Bullet, despite IGP Egbetokun’s recent directive to withdraw such personnel from individuals not legally entitled to their services.
“We urge the IGP to take immediate action to arrest the culprit in the interest of the general public,” Olaoluwa said, describing Bullet as a miscreant exploiting government security agents to perpetrate crimes.
In a separate incident, the group claimed that security agents from an agency in Abuja, acting on intelligence, were prevented from arresting Bullet by his police escorts.
The officers, reportedly from Rivers State, allegedly used tear gas and fired shots to obstruct the operation.
The Oodua Integrity Group warned that Bullet’s activities, including stockpiling AK-47s and other weapons in Asaba and Ibuzor, pose a significant threat to public safety.
They called for a thorough investigation into the allegations and the immediate apprehension of those involved.
The Nigeria Police Force has yet to respond to the allegations. Efforts to reach a spokesperson for comment were unsuccessful at the time of reporting.
The Kaduna state Police Command has debunked reports of a bomb explosion in the Abakpa area of the metropolis, which reportedly killed two children.
The spokesman of the Command, Mansir Hassan, said in a statement that preliminary investigations conducted by the Anti-Bomb Squad indicate that a locally made firearm (Dane gun) was discharged, resulting in the unfortunate loss of life of the young boy.
According to the police, the incident, which occurred at about 8:30 am on Tuesday at Josawa Road in the Abakpa area, claimed the life of a 12-year-old boy, identified as Abubakar Muhammed of Josawa Road, while seven other individuals sustained varying degrees of injuries.
The statement stated that a combined team of policemen led by the Divisional Police Officer of Kawo Division and the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Chairman of Kaduna North Local Government, all visited the scene following a distress call, and a thorough on-site assessment was carried out.
Police disclosed that further investigations and assessments are ongoing to determine the exact circumstances surrounding the incident.
The Command equally assured the public that further developments will be promptly and transparently communicated.
The Kwara State Government has come under scrutiny for failing to act on a 2020 security report warning of the rise of a new terrorist group, dubbed the “Mahamuda Terrorists,” in Baruten Local Government Area (LGA), according to documents obtained by Elanza News.
The report, submitted to the governor and top officials, highlighted the potential for escalating insecurity if the situation was left unchecked, a prophecy that has now materialised into a full-blown terror operation.
The Baruten Patriotic Agenda (BPA), which authored the report, expressed dismay at the government’s inaction, describing the situation as “deeply disheartening.”
The BPA’s prescience in forecasting the grave consequences of neglect has only amplified the tragedy, with the region now grappling with a surge in armed robbery, kidnapping, banditry, youth restiveness, and trans-border crimes.
Baruten LGA, located in Kwara North Senatorial District, is the largest local government by landmass in Kwara State, covering 9,749 km². Bordered by the Republic of Benin, Niger State, Kaiama LGA, and Oyo State, it is predominantly inhabited by the Batombu ethnic group and is an agrarian society heavily reliant on grain farming.
However, the rising tide of insecurity has stifled socio-economic progress and violated residents’ fundamental rights to safety.
The 2020 report proposed a comprehensive security framework to address the multifaceted challenges in Baruten, including farmers/herders clashes, communal disharmony, and drug abuse.
Among its recommendations were the establishment of a Peace and Security Committee by the Local Government Council, comprising traditional leaders and stakeholders, to strategise on conflict resolution.
It also urged the state government to expedite judicial processes on chieftaincy disputes to prevent further unrest and to deploy a delegation to pacify warring factions.
Drug abuse was identified as a potent social vice, with the Wadatta Mining site near Biogberu and several locations in Gwanara Township serving as epicentres for the sale of illicit substances like tramadol, marijuana, and “Skake-and-die.”
A recent tragedy in Dameru, Bwen/Kiyoru Ward, saw 26-year-old Abdulrazak slump and die after overdosing on marijuana and other drugs. The report named notorious dealers, including Idris Bagi Abdulrazak (aka Patrick) in Gwanara and Sabi Togo in Yakira, the latter suspected of orchestrating a N1 million theft.
The BPA further highlighted rising incidents of rape, with a recent case in Gwanara involving the daughter of a local vigilante, Ayinde, underscoring the growing threat to vulnerable groups.
To curb the menace, the report recommended that the state government direct local councils to form an anti-drugs task force and establish rehabilitation centres for repentant drug abusers.
Religious disharmony, though rare, was also flagged as a potential flashpoint, particularly due to the use of loudspeakers during worship, which has caused friction among residents near religious centres.
The BPA stressed that the proposed security framework, if implemented holistically, could significantly reduce crime in Baruten.
However, the state government’s failure to act on these recommendations has allowed criminality to fester, leaving residents on edge and the region’s socio-economic fabric in tatters.
Meanwhile ,efforts to reach the Kwara State Government for comments on the matter were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.