NAPTIP has arrested five suspected traffickers and rescued 24 victims in an Abuja airport raid.
The agency said the syndicate targeted young Nigerians for exploitation in Middle Eastern countries.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has apprehended five suspected traffickers during a special operation at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
According to the agency’s spokesperson, Vincent Adekoye, the operation, personally led by NAPTIP’s Director-General, Binta Adamu Bello, also resulted in the rescue of 24 victims of trafficking.
Adekoye disclosed that one of those arrested is a retired senior security officer who is allegedly a key member of a trafficking ring operating across states in the South-West. He explained that the raid was carried out following intelligence reports from stakeholders and partners who raised alarm over suspicious movements of young people through the airport.
He said the operation lasted nearly six hours and effectively disrupted the activities of the syndicate. “At the end of the exercise, five suspects were arrested, and 24 victims were rescued,” he revealed.
The victims, aged between 15 and 26 years, were reportedly recruited from Kano, Katsina, Oyo, Ondo, and Rivers States. Adekoye added that they were being trafficked to countries such as Iraq, Sudan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Afghanistan.
Some of the rescued victims were unaware of their final destinations, with several of them able to speak only in their local dialects. One of them recounted being misled by traffickers: she was told she would be taken to Europe for a well-paying job, and her parents encouraged her to go.
Another victim, visibly upset, said she discovered through online videos that girls in similar situations were often abused and maltreated abroad. “If that is what awaited me, I am grateful I didn’t go. I feel betrayed by my father for deceiving me into this journey,” she said, vowing to pursue justice against him.
NAPTIP has assured that investigations are ongoing and pledged to prosecute those responsible for the crime.
