The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Makurdi Zonal Command, Benue state says it arrested two suspects in connection with sale of babies.
The command also said that within the space of six months, the command recorded about seven reported cases of trafficking involving 13 children, out of which, 3 of the children have been rescued.
The agency’s zonal commander, Gloria Bai who revealed this to newsmen, complained that the state was gradually becoming a hub for trafficking.
She expressed that the recent concerns were cases involving young girls that may be linked to operators of baby factories.
According to her, “We have two young boys who were taken from Gboko and sold out in Lagos. The syndicate has been arrested and the case is in court, and the boys were rescued with the help of the Nigerian police.
“Traffickers have started using that opportunity, preying on the vulnerability of these young girls because, some of them have been chased away from their homes after such pregnancies.”
Her advise to parents is t t “If a girl is pregnant that doesn’t mean the end for the girl. Parents should allow their children to open up to them and watch carefully what is happening around them because the traffickers are around and they are actually taking advantage of these young girls.
“The traffickers now are using that avenue to deceive these young girls; take them somewhere, make them have the babies and then sell the babies. We have received so many cases.
“We know that there are cases where some of them are told that the babies were dead and they are not even paid one kobo, while others were paid some form of stipends. Right now we have arrested two suspects who are members of the syndicate involved in luring the girls.”
Bai also pointed out that the command had other cases among them, a girl who was taken to Abia state whose baby was sold and she was given N100,000.
She further observed that, “We had a case where a woman came from Bayelsa to buy the baby (the baby is yet to be recovered) and we also have intelligence that some others are coming from the East. People are ready to traffick young girls and also deceive them into selling their babies.”
