The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has arrested seven suspects including a female truck driver, for running an interstate child trafficking syndicate in Abuja.
The group was apprehended while attempting to sell a 3 years old girl allegedly stolen from Damaturu, Yobe State, uncovering a network that abducts and traffics children across Nigeria.
The sting operation which was a collaboration with the Department of State Services (DSS), resulted in the arrest of the suspected leader of the syndicate, a 33 years old truck driver, Hasana Jacob, who works for a popular cement company based in Obajana, near Lokoja, Kogi State.
Alongside her, authorities detained Aisha Suleiman, Murtala Tanimu, Shamsu Tanimu, Adamu Jacob, Abubakar Ahmed, and Ali Muhammed.
As gathered, early investigations show the gang used a branded 22-tire cement truck to move children undetected, selling them for up to N600,000 each to unknown buyers.
In a statement released by NAPTIP’s Chief Press Officer on Tuesday, Vincent Adekoye, outlined that the syndicate operated through a nationwide web of recruiters and buyers to quickly traffic their victims.
He said, “The report indicates that because Hasana is a Truck Driver with this popular Cement Company, it was very easy for her to steal children at any of the terminals across the Country, evade security checks on the roads, and deliver such stolen children to her gang members at any location without being noticed.”
The NAPTIP Director-General, Binta Bello, represented by Josiah Emerole, Director of Research and Programme Development, condemed the syndicate’s actions labeleling the crime as heinous and a condemnable act of wickedness.
She said, “I am deeply saddened by the latest arrest. It is painful to note that human beings will organise a criminal gang, use a branded vehicle of a Company, move from one part of the Country to another, steal children belonging to other families, and sell them to interested buyers whose motives for the children are not known.”.
The cement truck used in the operation has been seized by NAPTIP as investigations proceed.
Bello commended the DSS for their vital collaboration and called for enhanced efforts among law enforcement to safeguard Nigerian children from trafficking.
