By our Reporter
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), in collaboration with the Rivers State Ministry of Health, has sealed a maternity facility in Elelenwo, Port Harcourt, over alleged involvement in the sale and trafficking of babies.
The joint operation, which followed actionable intelligence, also led to the arrest of the owner of the facility, an alleged facilitator of the baby-sale transaction and another staff member.
Preliminary investigations indicated that a Liberian national resident in Belgium arrived in Nigeria without evidence of pregnancy but allegedly took custody of three children within about one month under circumstances that have raised serious concerns.
NAPTIP said intelligence available to the agency suggested that about N13.5 million was allegedly exchanged in connection with the transfer of the three children and other individuals linked to the maternity.
Following the intelligence, operatives from NAPTIP’s Abuja and Rivers State offices, alongside officials of the Rivers State Ministry of Health, conducted a coordinated operation at the facility and sealed the premises to preserve potential evidence while investigations continue.
The agency said investigators are conducting forensic and documentary inquiries to establish the identities, whereabouts and welfare of the children, as well as determine their biological and legal parentage.
Investigators are also tracing the alleged financial transactions and examining the possible involvement of medical personnel and other individuals who may have facilitated the suspected procurement and transfer of the children.
The Director-General of NAPTIP, Binta Adamu Bello, expressed concern over the alleged involvement of some maternity and healthcare facilities in illegal adoption, child sale and trafficking.
Bello said she was particularly disturbed by allegations that foreign nationals were patronising suspected criminal operators in Nigeria to procure children for unlawful transfer across borders.
“We have spread our dragnet to fish out all those involved in this case, and they shall be made to face the full wrath of the law,” she said.
The NAPTIP boss, however, stressed that the investigation remained ongoing and that all persons found to be connected with the alleged offences would be subjected to due process.
She said the safety and welfare of the affected children remained the agency’s foremost priority, while urging members of the public to report suspected cases of child trafficking, illegal adoption, baby-selling and other forms of exploitation to NAPTIP.
