The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) senator, Senator Ireti Kingibe, has demanded immediate action to stop child trafficking.
According to a press release sent by Nana Sani Kazaure, SSA, Media/Press Secretary, to Sen. Kingibe, the call was made over the weekend while the senator was moving a motion on the Senate floor. Kingibe denounced the heinous trend of kidnapping children in the Federal Capital Territory by criminals, especially in the three area councils of Kuje, Gwagwalada, and Kwali Area Councils.
Sen. Kingibe provided background information for the motion by stating that on February 18, 2024, she received a letter from the Missing Children Parents Association, an Abuja-based non-governmental organisation, regarding the alleged kidnapping, theft, and trafficking of children by one Madam Success Nwankwo at the Gwagwalada, Kwali, and Kuje Area Councils.
The statement went on to say that the association had complained in the letter that kidnappings of children had begun at some point in 2018 and had persisted despite efforts to stop them.
Sen. Kingibe pointed out that the letter claimed that the police and a vigilante team along the Gwagwalada-Zubairu Motorway had detained the aforementioned Madam Nwankwo on January 4th of this year together with two missing children.
“The association further stated in the letter that after investigations by the Police, it discovered that these abductions were carried out by a syndicate leading to the arrest of three persons, with others still at large.
Moving the motion for the Senate to take action on the matter, Sen. Kingibe said: “Worried that since the arrest of the perpetrators, only four children have been recovered out of the 40 alleged to be missing;
“Concerned that this organized crime has become a great threat to the peace and well-being of the three Area Councils and their environs and as such, urgent steps must be taken to address this matter”.
Accordingly, the Senate resolves to urge the Nigerian Police, the Department of State Services and other relevant security agencies to be thoroughly involved in the matter to bring all the perpetrators to book, putting modalities in place for the recovery of the missing children and to ensure that justice is not only seen to be done but must be done speedily to serve as a deterrent, as well as, assuage the feelings of the victims.
The Senate further urged the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Other Related Offences (NAPTIP), to as a matter of urgency, put operational mechanisms in place for prompt responses to reported cases of human trafficking and baby factory incidents across the country.
The motion by Sen. Kingibe was supported by Sen. Tony Nwoye representing Anambra-North.
Sen. Nwoye said, “The Senate had to rise against the ugly incident, hydra-headed monster and cancer of child trafficking and abduction”.
He averred that it was regrettable that children who are supposed to be the pride of society would become victims of abduction and trafficking, particularly from the so-called “baby factories where they are sold off to individuals.
“I feel that the Senate should rise and I feel that this motion is very timeous and I believe that the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Police should rise to the occasion”, Nwoye said.
