67 Children Stolen From Nasarawa, Gombe Sold To South East, Says NAPTIP
– Girl abducted from Gombe to Anambra reunites with parents
The Director General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Dr Fatima Waziri-Azi, said about 67 children have been stolen from Nasarawa and Gombe states and sold in the Southeast.
She said 49 were stolen from Lafia, Nasarawa State, while the 18 were stolen from Gombe State.
The DG, who explained that the agency is working hard to locate and return the children to their homes, said stealing of children is becoming a new trend that wasn’t common few years ago.
Waziri-Azi said this in Abuja, when the agency returned six-year-old Hauwa Ibrahim, who was taken from her home in Gombe State on the 9th of December 2018 and sold in Onitsha, Anambra State.
Hauwa, whose name had been changed to Chidinma Eze, was handed over to her parents in Abuja by the DG.
She said, “When it comes to the business of trafficking in persons, it is not just the work of NAPTIP but we need the combined efforts of the society and government to tackle the problem.
“So far the aggregate number we have of children that have been stolen from Gombe is 18 and there could be more; but right now we have a record of 18 and out of the 18, only three have been identified. His daughter (referring to Hauwa) and two other children were recovered from one individual. The individual bought two. This same thing happened in a community in Nasarawa State, in Lafia, where 49 children were kidnapped.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-5089981496810613&output=html&h=280&slotname=3755657467&adk=1974301426&adf=2991611187&pi=t.ma~as.3755657467&w=661&fwrn=4&fwrnh=100&lmt=1640411598&rafmt=1&psa=1&format=661×280&url=https%3A%2F%2Fthenationonlineng.net%2F67-children-stolen-from-nasarawa-gombe-naptip%2F&flash=0&fwr=0&fwrattr=true&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&wgl=1&adsid=ChEIgPyVjgYQmJOi8r__uZSXARI9AFPUYJXnVvHrwjG4CcFi8oAmN9qisLzim5FoPgmKe74kVYRsGrLN1rNEl5oivqvezmeQpKrcH0duTpy2kQ&uach=WyJXaW5kb3dzIiwiMTAuMC4wIiwieDg2IiwiIiwiOTYuMC40NjY0LjExMCIsW10sbnVsbCxudWxsLCI2NCJd&dt=1640416315158&bpp=2&bdt=500&idt=2&shv=r20211207&mjsv=m202112060101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3D02591ffa9a9b4f4a-225234f2fdcc0004%3AT%3D1628709946%3ART%3D1637031511%3AS%3DALNI_MYI33Tskxuah4KvHhE58iOiNHTDGg&prev_fmts=0x0%2C728x90%2C160x600%2C160x600%2C661x280%2C661x166%2C661x280%2C289x600&nras=1&correlator=5038506847741&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=786352078.1628709946&ga_sid=1640416315&ga_hid=2042920124&ga_fc=1&u_tz=60&u_his=6&u_h=720&u_w=1280&u_ah=680&u_aw=1280&u_cd=24&u_sd=1.5&dmc=8&adx=137&ady=2720&biw=1263&bih=552&scr_x=0&scr_y=515&eid=21066429%2C21067496&oid=2&psts=AGkb-H9G8mrJHPfKACOtwI9UfzVWJf9qhF7jdHRpxu-JrU9xCalTt5s3NPrF28aBWhY0dedYlkR13WOJCYexVRXhD34rtA%2CAGkb-H_p0oqpr_y3dLRafOFdJyndEFRL7rdBRbYoDRrMlHgrPxuiwucxV_-VVZBHw-MAk4FscCYF3i29dg%2CAGkb-H-TIDhpXRjY39Ic0NK_mMj2ynVpuMc0H6eclP-90eJRUL25AmizoXocrJfyPmL–WmOQyt3FRd9tZDdPg%2CAGkb-H81_5QW9kWf1fXS3dxgvPw6FJaIvQTr-u56uU7yIv3qLMuTKDJfq-dFC5eEkNbcy0lsqHD8TFekHyv4TQ%2CAGkb-H8QxqdDTmYyiUMNENBShxfsyUEVP7i-xhRWzkctuz_DDmn4CzHiBhb__KrkoMp3XRPx_dZWcBdItwE%2CAGkb-H-kd1-jkP2F5bjo5IOVFaLvj7g9P7iAF0P810EShQl5XX26UDKUnADnXzrPZyAVRf-w6nYuBjf5Q90%2CAGkb-H-MydjHr0sHbVe-Jd71SLukkOVgTA_I2xlqGhgepki7-OrCce9e6AexYeYFzk3ZWBR2fdMVTdGRTZ8&pvsid=2943818116115445&pem=347&tmod=621&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fthenationonlineng.net%2Fbenue-police-foil-kidnap-attempt-on-vice-chancellor%2F&eae=0&fc=1920&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C1280%2C0%2C1280%2C680%2C1280%2C552&vis=1&rsz=o%7C%7CeEbr%7C&abl=CS&pfx=0&fu=128&bc=31&ifi=8&uci=a!8&btvi=4&fsb=1&xpc=nNT5NwC0RI&p=https%3A//thenationonlineng.net&dtd=54483
“This wasn’t the trend five to ten years ago on trafficking in persons. Back then we had issues of child labour, domestic servitude, cross border trafficking; but right now in Nigeria, there is this trend of children being stolen from the North and sold to the Southeast. 75% of people trafficked in Nigeria are trafficked across state lines; 23% are trafficked within the state and just 2% are trafficked internationally.”
Hauwa’s father, Ibrahim Ardo, said Hauwa is the only female of his four children.
He explained that the trauma he experienced knowing his daughter was kidnapped for years is more than he would wish on his enemy.
Ardo said he fought diligently, travelling to Anambra, working with the police and tracking the kidnappers online until he found the family that his daughter was sold to.
