NAPTIP Probes CSO Fronts After Child-Trafficking Rescues

NAPTIP says traffickers are hiding behind civil society and humanitarian groups to reach vulnerable communities and move children under false promises of education support.

The agency said the pattern has appeared in communities hit by insecurity, including areas affected by farmer-herder violence. Its Head of Press and Public Relations, Vincent Adekoye, made the disclosure in Abuja on Tuesday during a joint briefing by security agencies.

Premium Times reported that NAPTIP said it had rescued more than 180 children allegedly trafficked from five states by groups posing as civil society organisations. Vanguard reported a figure of 118 children recovered from Nasarawa, Benue and three other North-Central states, while Punch reported the agency’s account of four children rescued in Onitsha after allegedly being trafficked from Kajuru in Kaduna State in 2023.

Adekoye said traffickers approach distressed families with offers to take children back to school or provide humanitarian help, then remove them from their communities. Punch quoted him as saying: “Traffickers also now masquerade under the umbrella of Civil Society Organisations and move to communities that are already distressed.”

NAPTIP said it plans to profile community-based, faith-based and non-governmental organisations operating in vulnerable areas. The agency also asked CSO leaders to carry out internal checks so criminal networks do not use trusted local groups as cover.

The disclosures follow wider concern about child movement from conflict-affected communities, especially where poverty and insecurity make families more exposed to promises of schooling or relief support.

Sources: Premium Times, Vanguard, Punch