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NAPTIP arrests orphanage owner, three others, rescues 26 children in Benue

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, has apprehended a 60-year-old influential figure within the Orphanage Owners Umbrella Body of Nigeria.

The individual, who also founded the globally recognized Civil Society Organisation, the National Council of Child’s Right Advocates of Nigeria (NACRAN), based in Benue State, was taken into custody over allegations of extensive child trafficking, illegal adoption, and child sales.

In what officials described as a major breakthrough, operatives from NAPTIP’s Makurdi Command successfully rescued 26 children out of an estimated 300 who are believed to have been trafficked and sold across Benue, Enugu, Lagos, Nasarawa, and Abuja.

Authorities have launched an intensive manhunt to locate the remaining 274 victims as investigations continue into the full scope of the syndicate’s operations.

A 34-year-old woman suspected to be an accomplice, along with two additional orphanage operators from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Nasarawa State, were also detained after several trafficked children were traced to their care facilities.

This operation follows only weeks after NAPTIP’s Director-General, Binta Adamu Bello, OON, publicly voiced her concern about the increasing reports of corruption and exploitation among some orphanage operators.

She had urged state ministries of women’s affair to closely monitor orphanages to ensure compliance with legal and ethical standards.

The latest arrests form part of NAPTIP’s renewed national clampdown on orphanage and childcare institutions, a directive issued by the Director-General in response to multiple reports of child trafficking and other illicit practices involving some shelter homes.

According to official records, the case began on May 1, 2025, when a distraught father reported that his four-year-old son had been handed over by the boy’s grandmother to an NGO without his approval.

Upon demanding his child’s return, the man was reportedly told that he would not be able to see the boy for three years.

His complaint triggered a NAPTIP investigation that exposed a sprawling child trafficking and illegal adoption network.

Preliminary findings revealed that the suspects exploited impoverished rural families in Benue State through a deceptive initiative named the “Back to School Project.” Under this scheme, they allegedly recruited children from conflict-affected communities in Guma Local Government Area including Daudu, Yelwata, and Ngban with false promises of educational sponsorship.

The children were then trafficked to states such as Abuja, Nasarawa, Enugu, and Lagos.

Community meetings were organized to convince local leaders and parents that the project was legitimate. Many guardians either signed misleading consent forms or verbally agreed to release their children, believing they would be reunited after three years.

Reports indicate that over 300 children were taken under this pretense, some without any parental consent at all.

The trafficked children, aged between one and thirteen years, were moved to orphanages in Abuja and Nasarawa, where they were allegedly sold to couples under the disguise of legal adoption for sums ranging from N1 million to ₦3 million per child.

Certain orphanages acted as temporary holding centers where children were kept before being handed over to buyers. Four such homes located at Kaigini, Kubwa Expressway, Abuja; Masaka Area 1, Mararaba (by Abaca Road); and another behind the International Market in Mararaba have been identified and are under investigation.

One complainant revealed he paid ₦2.8 million as an adoption fee and an additional N100,000 as a consultancy charge to a syndicate member. Investigators also discovered that several rescued children had their names and identities altered, making the tracing process difficult.

Responding to the shocking revelations, NAPTIP’s Director-General, Binta Adamu Bello, described the situation as both “unbelievable and mind-boggling.”

She stated, “Arising from the case at hand, I wish to say that issues of child trafficking and adoption are becoming a national crisis that requires urgent attention from all relevant stakeholders.

“A few weeks ago, based on credible intelligence, I expressed concern and alerted the state ministries of women affairs on the unpatriotic and illegal activities of some orphanage operators across the country.

“It is painful that some unpatriotic elements with recognised entities and status now use their social class to deceive already vulnerable people in crisis-prone communities, traffic their children most of whom narrowly escape death in the wake of communal or farmer–herder clashes, and sell them to desperate parents in the name of adoption, without the valid legal consent of the parents.

“This is unacceptable, and those already arrested in connection with this wicked act shall be made to face the full wrath of the law.

“Our children are not commodities to be displayed in orphanages and sold at will to the highest bidders. This must stop,” the NAPTIP boss fumed.

News

Police arrest herbalist, step-brother over murder of 22yr old yahoo boy in Delta

Police detectives from Agbor Area Command have arrested a twenty year old herbalist, Amechi Okwuokenye and his elder step-brother over the alleged abduction and murder of a suspected internet fraudster, Friday Liberty, aged 22 years in his shrine at Owa-Alidima in Ika North East Local Government Area of Delta State.

The herbalist was arrested at his shrine on 23rd October 2025. He and his suspected accomplice are currently in police custody.

The Police also recovered the corpse of the deceased from the suspect’s shrine and deposited same in the mortuary.

Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe confirmed the report in a statement sent to newsmen in Warri.

The statement said, “It was a case of the hunter becoming the hunted, when on the 30th of September 2025, Mr Friday Liberty, aged 22 years old, visited his herbalist, whom he had known for some time now, but this time, he never returned. The family, who initially didn’t know what had happened to their brother, started looking for him.”

“The girlfriend of the deceased then informed the family that she heard a conversation about the said Friday liberty and a certain herbalist, and advised that they should reach out to the said herbalist.

“The family contacted the herbalist, who denied seeing him but promised to do some spiritual incantations so their brother could return alive.

“Having spent money on the herbalist, and the result was not forthcoming, they then reported the matter at the Agbor Area command via a petition on 14th October 2025.

“And this decision proved to be the turning point in the case as the area command detectives embarked on an intelligence-led investigation.

“During the course of the investigation, the detectives uncovered the last person whom Friday Liberty contacted, and found out it was the same herbalist who denied knowing his whereabouts.

Surveillance was laid around his shrine at Owa-Alidima in Ika North East LGA, for days, until he was arrested on 23rd October 2025, in his shrine while hiding inside a refrigerator.

“Upon his arrest of the herbalist Amechi Okwuokenye, aged 20 years, confessed that both he and his brother Smart Okwuokenye, aged 26years, kidnapped the victim liberty Friday and the motorcycle rider identified as Isioma Ugbeje, who carried him to the shrine.

“They further stated that Friday Liberty has been his long-time customer who frequently visits him to hypnotise clients so they could give him money easily( in his words, ‘to tie clients ‘).

“The herbalist said his elder brother approached him that he needed money and advised him to lure any of his clients so they could kidnap him and ask for ransom, and the unlucky person they could lure was Liberty Friday.

“They kidnapped him and the Okada Rider and demanded a ransom of N10,000,000. When they noticed that the plan was not working, they murdered him and the motorcycle rider and dumped their bodies in a soak away pit by the shrine.”

SP Edafe stated that the suspects are in custody, and the remains of the victims have been evacuated and deposited at the mortuary for autopsy.”

He added that, “The commissioner of Police, Delta State, CP Olufemi Abaniwonda assures the public that the command will ensure that justice is served in this case.”

News

Lagos police arrest Chinese national over Ikeja CCTV shop explosion

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a Chinese national in connection with the recent improvised explosive device (IED) blast that rocked a CCTV camera shop on Kodesho Street, Ikeja.

Sources told Zagazola Makama that detectives from the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Yaba, picked up the suspect, identified as Joe Gu, around 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 25, at his residence, No. A11, Bila Vista, Banana Island, Ikoyi.

According to the sources, the arrest followed ongoing discreet investigations into the explosion, after the complainant named the Chinese businessman as a possible mastermind of the attack.

Preliminary findings indicated that the suspect and the complainant had a prior business relationship that deteriorated in 2013 after a disagreement.

“It was further gathered that during the fallout, the suspect allegedly threatened to disrupt the complainant’s business operations,” the source revealed.

The police confirmed that the suspect is currently in custody as investigations continue to establish his role and possible motive.

The command assured that updates on the case would be made public as soon as new information emerges, reaffirming its commitment to uncovering the truth behind the explosion.

News

Tompolo denies issuing 21-Day ultimatum to FG over Kanu release

High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, has disowned a social media publication claiming he gave the Federal Government 21 days to release Nnamdi Kanu.

In a statement signed by his Media Consultant, Paul Bebenimibo, Tompolo said he has nothing to do with the matter and described the publication as false and mischievous, alleging it was the handiwork of his enemies determined to discredit him over his ongoing fight against illegal crude oil activities in the Niger Delta region.

The statement further reaffirmed Tompolo’s loyalty to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his support for the President’s renewed hope agenda. It added that Tompolo remains committed to the total eradication of illegal oil activities and stands firmly behind President Tinubu’s administration and second-term ambition.

“The Federal Government and the general public should disregard the said publication in its entirety. High Chief Government Ekpemupolo has nothing to do with the issue of Nnamdi Kanu and remains focused on his duties in protecting the nation’s oil assets.”

The statement concludes by urging Nigerians to ignore fake news aimed at causing division or mischief within the Niger Delta region

THN reported that the self-proclaimed leader of the proscribed separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, was unable to begin his defence on Friday in his ongoing terrorism trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Kanu told the court he could not proceed because he had not been given access to the case file, which he said is necessary for him to adequately prepare his defence.