Trafficker lured and sold 15 children from Nasarawa

A suspected trafficker allegedly used promises of free education to persuade disadvantaged parents in Nasarawa State to hand over their children, Nigeria’s security agency said.

The suspect allegedly posed as an official of the National Council of Child Rights Advocates and operated under the name Back to School Project, presented as an NGO and orphanage programme. According to NSCDC spokesman Babawale Afolabi, the children were later sold for 30 million naira.

The Commandant General’s Special Intelligence Squad, led by Commander Dandaura Appollos, tracked the alleged buyers through field tracking, technical intelligence and operations across several states. Officers rescued three children in Anambra, Imo and Enugu states and found the remaining 12 along eastern transit routes.

Afolabi said 15 of the 16 children taken from Kama Madaki and Gudindi Mada communities in Kokona Local Government Area had been rescued. Three suspected buyers, one man and two women, were arrested. The NSCDC said suspects found responsible would face prosecution after investigations and urged the public to report suspected child-trafficking cases.

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Under the guise of operating an NGO and orphanage programme called the Back to School Project, he lured willing, less privileged parents into releasing their children with promises of free education.