Many Nigerian Orphanages Now Havens For Stolen Children – Agency

Director-general of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking successful Persons (NAPTIP) Binta Adamu Bello, has decried the activities of immoderate orphanages, saying that a bully fig of them person go a haven for stolen children.

The DG made the assertion against the backdrop of the the rescue of 8 children allegedly stolen from Kano and a fewer different states successful Northern Nigeria and trafficked to the South–South and South East zones of the country.

NAPTIP said the children were moved by a wanted inter-state kid trafficking syndicate which it refused to notation successful a property connection that was issued connected Tuesday.

NAPTIP said the victims were rescued from a popular, privately owned orphanage operated by 1 of the enforcement members of the umbrella assemblage of the Association of Orphanage Operators successful Nigeria. It besides failed to sanction the sanction of the suspect.

The bureau said the cognition was carried retired with the enactment of the operatives of the Department of the State Service (DSS), Anambra State Command, and the Delta State bid of Nigeria Police, with the method enactment of the Kano State Government done its Ministry of Women Affairs, organised civilian nine organisation successful Kano State, arsenic good arsenic acrophobic parents.

The manager wide said, “The cognition successful question was carried retired with precision, and it was purely intelligence-driven with the engagement of immoderate partners of the anti-human trafficking agency.

She said the rescue operation  was a fallout of the persistent outcry of immoderate distressed parents successful Kano and different states wrong the portion alleging the abduction of their children.

“The rescued children were identified done their pictures and different features by the typical of the acrophobic parents from Kano State, retired of the implicit 70 children recovered wrong the Orphanage, including neonates.

“NAPTIP is earnestly disquieted implicit the unwholesome activities of these so–called orphanages and Care Homes. Imagine implicit 70 children wrong an orphanage, and the fig keeps expanding daily. The large question is, wherever are these children from?

“The proprietor of the Home has been moving from pillar to station connected the matter, penning to assorted organs of government, and we person made it wide to him that helium should spell to our Kano Zonal Command and taxable himself for investigation. Rather than doing the close thing, helium is engaged utilizing societal media to propagate implicit falsehood against the Agency.

“On the time of the operation, our Operatives met the woman of the Owner of the Orphanage there. She was not arrested due to the fact that she was not our target. She was informed of the allegation, and the indispensable interaction was near down truthful that the Owner tin scope us.

“Those children were rescued and taken to the indispensable limb of the Government successful Kano State. They person been duly identified and reunited with their families. So, the earthy falsehood based connected spiritual labelling being sold to the nationalist done societal media by this unpatriotic idiosyncratic is regrettable, and it volition not distract america from carrying retired our mandate.

“I privation to usage this mean to telephone connected State Ministries of Women Affairs crossed the Country to beam searchlights connected the activities of these Orphanages and Care Homes that are expanding successful numbers. We shall proceed to transportation retired our oversight relation connected them successful enactment with the provisions of the  Trafficking successful Persons (Control of Activities of Organizations and Centres) Regulations 2019”.

Report from the cognition indicated that portion implicit 70 children were discovered wrong the orphanage with astir 15 newborn babies, 8 children were identified arsenic allegedly stolen from Kano State and subsequently rescued.

In 2017, immoderate parents successful Kano and different states successful the portion raised an alarm connected the unwholesome activities of immoderate syndicates who determination from 1 assemblage to different luring children mostly betwixt the ages of 2 years to 10 years and trafficking them to different parts of the country.

The probe revealed that the syndicates operating nether the guise of traders typically enactment successful 2 batches.

According to spokesperson for NAPTIP, Vincent Adekoye, the incidental climaxed successful 2022 arsenic different acceptable of implicit 25 children were allegedly lured and trafficked retired of the portion by the aforesaid suspected syndicate, thereby prompting a nationalist outcry from stakeholders, including members of CSOs successful the communities wrong the states.

In a missive dated 15th December, 2022, a non–governmental organization, Protection Against the Abduction Missing of Our Children (PATAMOOC), successful a petition addressed to the Director General of NAPTIP, titled, “Demand for Justice and Address the Child Abduction successful Kano State and Nigeria”, sought the assistance of the Agency successful rescuing the abducted children.

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