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NAPTIP arrests 4 persons over alleged sales, buying of babies
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has arrested four persons including a Federal civil servant in connection with allegation of sales and buying of babies.
This is contained in a statement signed by the Head, Press and Public Relations Unit of the agency, Mrs Stella Nezan on Tuesday in Abuja.
Nezan gave the names of the suspects as Mrs Wilson Erurom, a Federal civil servant, Mr Marksoo Uzer, a middle age man who is also an employee of First Fertility Hospital, Makurdi, Benue, Albert Motemi and Gabriel Gav respectively.
She stated that the suspects were all arrested in Makurdi through combined efforts of operatives of NAPTIP and the Department of State Services (DSS).
The NAPTIP spokesperson stated that during interrogation of the suspects, the prospective buyers said she contacted one of the suspects after listening to an advertorial on one of the broadcast stations in Yenagoa.
Nezan said that buyer narrated that her link had boasted in the advert of assisting people to get children either through in-planting, in -vitro fertilisation or outright adoption.
According to the NAPTIP spokesperson, the prospective buyers informed her link that she preferred outright adoption of an infant and subsequently paid the sum of N500, 000 for the purpose.
She said the woman narrated that after the safe delivery of the baby in question, she was called by her link to come to Makurdi to pick the baby, but only to be told later that the surrogate mother had changed her mind.
Nezan said that when the buyer was making her move to return to Bayelsa the following day, she was arrested by men of the DSS and handed over to NAPTIP.
According to the NAPTIP spokesperson, investigation revealed that Mr Marksoo Uzer was the mastermind of the illegal syndicate.
She said that Uzer had also promised an officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) a baby after collecting the sum of N950, 000 and later reneged on the agreement.
Nezan said that after completion of investigation, the suspects would be arraigned before a court.
Reacting to the development, Director General of NAPTIP, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, appreciated the inter-agency collaboration existing between NAPTIP and the DSS.
She advised Nigerians to always ensure that due process was followed when confronted with issues of child adoption, promising that the case would be thoroughly investigated and charged to court.
GFH NEWS
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Alake Inaugurates Nigeria-US Solid Minerals Committee, Dismisses $700bn Claim, Says No Assets Sold
Joel Ajayi
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, on Tuesday inaugurated the Nigeria-United States Committee on Strategic Cooperation in the Solid Minerals Sector in Abuja, dismissing reports that Nigeria sold $700 billion worth of solid minerals to the US.
The inauguration followed the strategic cooperation framework established between Nigeria and the United States during the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by the Head PRESS and Public Relations Department Mrs. Kania Maliki Andeyaba stated that, Alake in the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, signed with the US is a government-to-government platform to facilitate business-to-business engagements between American investors and Nigerian local operators, not a sale of assets.
Harping on the importance of the solid minerals sector to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic diversification agenda, he noted that the administration was committed to reducing dependence on a mono-product economy through the sustainable development of Nigeria’s vast mineral resources.
According to him, the Nigeria–US partnership as a strategic initiative to attract investment, promote technology transfer, strengthen local mineral processing and create employment opportunities.
“There is no sale of any Nigerian asset. There’s nothing exchanging hands,” Alake declared.
“We created a platform to facilitate mingling of US investment ventures with Nigeria’s local operators. It is in the public domain. We signed it in public and published it in four or five national newspapers.”
The Minister said reports claiming the US was coming to take over Nigeria’s minerals and security architecture were untrue at best and products of riotous imagination at worst.
Explaining the policy thrust, Alake said Africa has historically held the short end of the stick in global economic transactions, and Nigeria is determined to change that model.
“We have the resources, the critical elements the world needs to transit to clean energy. So we are creating a new paradigm — you bring your capital, expertise and technology, to match with our natural resources and create a win-win situation . The investor gains, Nigeria gains.’’he said.
Nigeria, he stressed, had operated a mono-cultural economy dependent on oil, while solid minerals were exploited informally — with ores taken “from pit to port” without value addition.
Alake said government has now made local processing mandatory, refusing to grant mineral titles to investors without a clear pathway to processing in Nigeria.
He said the policy led to the springing up of processing factories, including the largest lithium processing plant in West Africa commissioned recently in Nasarawa by the Vice President, and informed the formation of the African Minerals Strategy Group.
Alake noted that investor confidence has returned due to macro-economic reforms by President Bola Tinubu that guarantee security of tenure and repatriation of profits.
He charged the committee to discharge its assignment responsibly, saying its work is strategic to achieving the President’s $1 trillion economy target.
To this end, he told the Committee to ensure effective coordination, identify investment opportunities and translate the framework into measurable outcomes capable of positioning Nigeria as a competitive player in the global solid minerals industry.
In his welcome address, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Engr. Faruk Yusuf Yabo, said the inauguration translates growing bilateral engagements into a structured framework for practical cooperation and investment mobilization
Economic Officer at the US Embassy, Jonathan Baas, said President Donald Trump has prioritized three areas for US embassies — energy, artificial intelligence/super intelligence, and critical minerals.
Baas said Washington’s direction is to work with partners to secure critical supply chains while ensuring partners capture value.
“We just signed a contract today on looking into building AI data centres in Nigeria at the Nigerian Economic Summit. That’s the direction Washington wants us to go,” he said.
In his vote of thanks, CEO/Managing Director of Nigeria Solid Minerals Company, NSMC said that the committee
is expected to coordinate implementation, facilitate investment and monitor progress towards achieving the objectives of the Nigeria–US cooperation framework.
The inauguration reinforces the Federal Government’s commitment to repositioning the solid minerals sector as a key driver of economic diversification, industrial development and national prosperity under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
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