Health
Lost forever: How security lapses, systemic failures expose children to traffickers (2)
They disappeared, leaving behind more questions than answers and families trapped in a never-ending nightmare. Years have passed, but for parents still searching, time has not healed the wound. In this concluding part, CHIJIOKE IREMEKA reports that cherished photographs have become painful reminders, while hope battles daily with despair
A 15-year-old girl, Ngozi, who was sheltered by social workers after escaping from a trafficking network that moved children between southern Nigeria and neighbouring countries, offered a glimpse into how quickly missing children can vanish beyond recovery.
According to her testimony, children abducted or bought through intermediaries are often moved within hours through informal transport routes stretching from Lagos to Ogun, Edo, Delta, and northern border communities.
“They change vehicles many times so that they will not be traced. Some children are drugged so they don’t cry. In most cases, they are transported in bags and in trucks without raising suspicion,” she said.
Ngozi described seeing toddlers transported alongside bags of rice and cartons inside overcrowded buses, hidden in plain sight from security operatives.
Some children, she alleged, are taken for forced labour, while others disappear into illegal orphanage systems or trafficking rings.
Although our correspondent could not independently verify all aspects of her account, a senior official with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons acknowledged that abductors often target vulnerable residential areas where children play unsupervised.
“Economic hardship has worsened the problem. Communities are overcrowded, parents work long hours, and abductors exploit those conditions,” the official said.
Female truck driver linked to child trafficking syndicate
Hasana Jacob, a female leader of an interstate child trafficking syndicate involved in the abduction, sale, and transportation of children across Nigeria, was arrested, prosecuted, and convicted.
The 33-year-old from Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State worked as an alternate truck driver for a major cement company in Obajana, near Lokoja, Kogi State.
Saturday PUNCH learnt she was arrested alongside six other suspected members of the syndicate: Aisha Suleiman, Murtala Tanimu, Shamsu Tanimu, Adamu Jacob, Abubakar Ahmed, and Ali Muhammed, in Abuja by operatives of the Department of State Services while allegedly attempting to sell a three-year-old girl stolen from Damaturu, Yobe State.
“Investigation revealed that Jacob coordinated a professional trafficking syndicate that specialised in stealing children aged one year and above and selling them to interested buyers for approximately N600,000 each.
“The report indicates that because she worked as a truck driver, it was easier for her to move children through various terminals across the country, evade security checks, and deliver them to gang members without attracting suspicion.
“It is strongly suspected that the syndicate has members across the country performing different roles. While some members lure victims to designated locations where they are picked up by Hasana, others secure buyers ahead of the victims’ arrival, making it easier to dispose of the children and collect payment,” NAPTIP spokesperson Vincent Adekoye said.
How much is a child worth
Within Nigeria’s illicit child trafficking market, unofficial data suggests that children are reportedly sold for between N30,000 and N3m, depending on age, gender, and the region where transactions take place.
Saturday PUNCH gathered that in some cases, babies are sold for as little as N30,000 or N50,000 in a country where, observers say, the value of human life is increasingly diminished. Investigations also indicate that many of those involved in the trade are women.
Recently, the Lagos State Police Command arrested a middle-aged woman for allegedly selling a two-month-old baby for N30,000.
The suspect, identified as Mrs Victor, was arrested at her residence in the Sabo Ilaje area of Lagos following a tip-off, according to police sources.
In another case, operatives of the Ogun State Police Command arrested a 23-year-old woman, Mary Olatayo, for allegedly selling her three-week-old baby for N600,000.
The suspect was arrested following a complaint from the father of the baby, who reported at the Mowe Divisional Headquarters.
Inside rescue operations
However, Saturday PUNCH reports that not all cases of missing children end in tragedy, as some are traced and rescued.
In 2018, Nigerian authorities rescued over 160 babies from unregistered orphanages in the Federal Capital Territory during a raid that attracted global attention and exposed sophisticated criminal networks operating in the country.
Data from NAPTIP shows that hundreds of children are rescued annually from trafficking networks operating across various states.
Last year, in March, anti-trafficking operatives raided a building in Aba, Abia State, rescuing 11 children allegedly prepared for illegal transport.
According to officials familiar with the operation, intelligence was triggered by a commercial driver who noticed unusual movement patterns involving sedated children.
During the raid, officers reportedly recovered forged birth certificates and multiple mobile phones allegedly used to coordinate transfers.
One child, estimated to be three years old, reportedly could not identify her parents or place of origin. Officials believe she may have been sold multiple times.
The Vice Chairman for Foreign Affairs of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Africa, Rev. Ebenezer Alabi, described the situation as “alarming.”
He recounted the case of a rescued minor, saying she was trafficked at age 12 and sold across Mali, Libya, and Senegal.
“She was sold to Mali, Libya, and Senegal, and we rescued her at 17, pregnant,” he said.
He called for stronger government action and stricter prosecution of those involved in trafficking minors.
Yet experts believe many disappearances never enter official records.
“Most families are poor. Some do not even know where to report. Others lose hope after police dismiss them. In many communities, people simply accept that the child is gone forever,” said child rights advocate Rosemary Okonkwo.
Stolen from Kano, found in Asaba
In another operation, eight children abducted from northern states were traced to a popular orphanage in Asaba, Delta State.
The operation, carried out with the DSS, police, and civil society groups, followed years of complaints from parents in Kano and neighbouring states over missing children.
According to NAPTIP spokesperson Vincent Adekoye, syndicates posing as traders lure children aged between two and 10 from communities and transport them to the south, where they often disappear without trace.
“In 2017, some parents in Kano and other states raised alarm over the activities of syndicates who move from one community to another, luring children mostly between the ages of two and 10 years and trafficking them to other parts of the country.
“The investigation revealed that the syndicates operate in two batches. While one group settles briefly within communities, gains trust, and later disappears with children, others operate as traders at parks and terminals, where they lure unaccompanied children on their way to school or errands,” he said.
At one Asaba orphanage, operatives reportedly found over 70 children, including newborns, though only eight were confirmed to have been abducted from Kano.
They were later reunited with their families, the agency confirmed, while others remain missing.
NAPTIP: 93 convicted, 120 children rescued
According to NAPTIP, the agency secured the conviction of 93 traffickers in 2025 and rescued 120 child victims within the same period.
The Director-General of NAPTIP, Binta Bello, disclosed this while reviewing the agency’s activities for the year in a statement issued by its National Press Officer, Vincent Adekoye.
Bello said more than 2,500 individuals identified as potential victims of human trafficking were intercepted before they could be exploited.
“The year 2025 was unpleasant for human traffickers in the country. We outsmarted the traffickers and their antics, and this resulted in the impressive number of convictions we recorded. The agency secured 93 convictions. This is remarkable, bearing in mind what it takes to prosecute and convict one trafficker,” Bello said.
She noted that NAPTIP also went after several high-profile traffickers during the year, arresting, prosecuting, and convicting many, while others remain under close surveillance.
“Among the high-profile traffickers were some popular operators of orphanages and care homes across the country whose alleged nefarious activities were uncovered, leading to the rescue of more than 120 suspected trafficked children.
“In the same vein, NAPTIP, in collaboration with international partners and stakeholders, rescued over 370 Nigerian victims of human trafficking from Ghana, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, and other countries,” she added.
Also, Saturday PUNCH learnt that the Cross River State Government convicted two men for the theft and trafficking of eight children, including some of their biological children.
The convicts, Mabum Joseph Arisha and Mutashu Victor Mabum, both from Mfom I Village in Ogoja Local Government Area, were on Monday, March 23, 2026, found guilty on all 17 counts by the Federal High Court in Calabar, presided over by Justice L. I. Ojukwu.
They were prosecuted under Sections 13(2)(b), 13(4)(c), 21, and 27 of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015, for recruiting and transferring eight children to one Ada Eze, who is still at large, for the purpose of exploitation.
Communities fight back
As trust in formal systems weakens, some communities are creating grassroots child safety networks.
In parts of Lagos and Delta states, residents now operate informal neighbourhood watch groups focused on monitoring unfamiliar adults around schools and residential compounds.
Some streets use WhatsApp groups to circulate instant alerts about suspicious activity.
At a primary school in Ogun State, teachers have introduced mandatory child pickup identification cards after two attempted abductions near the school gate.
However, activists warn that community vigilance alone cannot replace state responsibility.
“You cannot outsource child protection entirely to struggling communities. Government must treat this as a national security issue,” Okonkwo said.
The Federal Government, on its part, has also established an anti-kidnapping task force to address kidnapping and related crimes.
Psychologists warn that unresolved child disappearances can create long-term trauma similar to torture.
“Unlike death, families trapped in ambiguous loss cannot grieve fully because hope remains alive. They live in a permanent psychological suspension,” explained a clinical psychologist, Dr Fidel Okoye.
“Every phone call becomes emotional torture. Every child they see becomes a reminder of their missing children,” he added.
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