The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has arrested five suspected human traffickers, including a father who attempted to traffic his own daughter to Baghdad, Iraq. A total of 24 victims were rescued during the operation at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
NAPTIP’s National Press Officer, Vincent Adekoye, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, noting that the operation was led by the agency’s Director-General, Binta Adamu Bello, following credible intelligence.
Among those arrested was a retired senior security officer, alleged to be a key member of a trafficking syndicate operating in the South-West.
According to NAPTIP, the victims—aged between 15 and 26—were recruited from Kano, Katsina, Oyo, Ondo, and Rivers States, and were being trafficked to Iraq, Sudan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Afghanistan.
One of the rescued victims, who said her father deceived her with a promise of a supermarket job in Baghdad, vowed to ensure he is prosecuted. Another revealed that her mother had been misled into believing she was traveling to Europe to earn dollars.
Reacting, Bello condemned the growing activities of trafficking syndicates and unlicensed labour recruiters.
“I am impressed with the outcome of today’s operation because we arrested five suspected members of a major trafficking network exploiting Nigerians by sending them to conflict-prone countries, especially in the Middle East,” she said.
This comes just days after NAPTIP intercepted 25 women in Abuja who were allegedly being trafficked to Saudi Arabia for forced labour.
