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Operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), in collaboration with the Department of State Services (DSS), have dismantled an interstate child trafficking syndicate, leading to the arrest of a female truck driver and six accomplices in Abuja.
According to NAPTIP’s Chief Press Officer, Vincent Adekoye, the syndicate specialized in stealing and trafficking children across different states in Nigeria.
Their latest operation was thwarted while attempting to sell a three-year-old girl stolen from Damaturu, Yobe State.
The agency’s statement, titled “End of the Road for an Interstate Human Trafficking Syndicate”, confirmed the arrest of 33-year-old Hasana Jacob, a truck driver for a well-known cement company based in Obajana, near Lokoja, Kogi State. Jacob, who also played a key leadership role in the syndicate, was caught while trying to sell the stolen child.
Other suspects apprehended include Aisha Suleiman, Murtala Tanimu, Shamsu Tanimu, Adamu Jacob, Abubakar Ahmed, and Ali Muhammed.
How the traffickers operated
Adekoye revealed that the syndicate abducted children as young as one year old and transported them across Nigeria using a branded cement truck to evade suspicion.
The trafficked children were reportedly sold to unknown buyers for amounts reaching N600,000 per child.
“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 statement read.
It further explained that the gang operated through a network of recruiters and buyers, ensuring swift movement and sale of stolen children.
“It is strongly suspected the syndicate has membership across the country with different roles.
“While some members of the trafficking ring hunt and lure victims to the truck terminal—where they will be picked up by Hasana—others arrange interested buyers at any of the terminals across the country even before the arrival of the victim, thereby making it fast for the gang leader to dispose of the stolen child and collect her money,” Adekoye added.
NAPTIP DG condemns the crime
Reacting to the arrests, NAPTIP Director-General Binta Bello described the incident as a “heinous crime against humanity” and expressed deep disappointment over Jacob’s role as the leader of the syndicate.
“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,” she said.
“They create everlasting sorrow and pain for those families and smile to the bank after selling those children. This is unimaginable and it is a condemnable act of wickedness.
“This is more painful when the arrowhead of this evil syndicate is a woman who knows the pain of motherhood.”
Bello also commended the DSS for its support in dismantling the network and urged law enforcement agencies and stakeholders to strengthen cooperation to protect Nigerian children from human trafficking.
Meanwhile, the 22-tyre cement truck used for the illegal operations has been impounded, and investigations are ongoing.