Wednesday, March 26, 2025 - Operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in collaboration with the Department of State Services, have dismantled an interstate child trafficking syndicate.
NAPTIP’s Chief Press Officer, Vincent Adekoye, who disclosed this in a
statement on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, said the operatives arrested a female
truck driver and six other suspects in Abuja.
According to him, the syndicate, which specialised in stealing and
trafficking children from one part of Nigeria to the other, were arrested while
trying to sell off a 3-year-old girl stolen from Damaturu, Yobe State.
The statement is titled ‘End of the road for an interstate human
trafficking syndicate as a female arrowhead and truck driver of a popular
cement company based in Lokoja, 6 other members, arrested for suspected
stealing and trafficking of a child.’
The operation led to the arrest of 33-year-old Hasana Jacob, from Mangu
Local Government Area of Plateau State, who doubles as a truck driver for a
popular cement company based in Obajana, near Lokoja, Kogi State.
Jacob was apprehended while attempting to sell the three-year-old girl
allegedly stolen from Damaturu, Yobe State.
Also arrested were Aisha Suleiman, Murtala Tanimu, Shamsu Tanimu, Adamu
Jacob, Abubakar Ahmed, and Ali Muhammed, all suspected members of the
trafficking network.
Adekoye said preliminary investigations revealed that the syndicate
specialises in abducting children aged one and above, transporting them across
the country using a branded cement truck to evade suspicion and selling them to
unknown buyers for as much as N600,000 each.
The gang reportedly operates through a network of recruiters and buyers
strategically placed across various states, making it easy to move and dispose
of stolen children swiftly.
“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 is strongly suspected that 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."
Reacting to the development, NAPTIP’s Director-General, Binta Bello,
described the incident as a “heinous crime against humanity”, expressing shock
over the role played by Jacob in leading the syndicate.
Represented by the Director of Research and Programme Development, Mr
Josiah Emerole, 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.
“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."
The Director General commended the DSS for its unwavering support and
collaboration, which, she said, was crucial to the success of the operation.
She called on other law enforcement agencies and stakeholders to deepen
cooperation in order to protect Nigerian children from the menace of
trafficking.
Meanwhile, the 22-tire cement truck used in
the illicit operation has since been impounded by NAPTIP as investigations
continue.
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