ABUJA: The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) says it has arrested five suspected human traffickers and rescued 24 victims at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, including a father who attempted to traffic his own daughter to Baghdad, Iraq.
According to NAPTIP spokesperson, Vincent Adekoye, the sting operation, led by the agency’s Director-General, Binta Adamu Bello, was based on credible intelligence and caught the suspects unawares.
Among those arrested was a retired senior law enforcement officer alleged to be a key member of a South-West trafficking syndicate.
The victims, aged between 15 and 26, were recruited from Kano, Katsina, Oyo, Ondo, and Rivers states and were destined for Iraq, Sudan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Afghanistan.
One of the young women revealed that her father deceived her into believing she was headed to Baghdad to work in a supermarket.
am seriously annoyed with my father because he deceived me. He did not tell me Baghdad is in Iraq. If that is what awaits me there, I will not go, she told NAPTIP officials.
Another victim disclosed that her mother was misled into believing she was being taken to Europe to work and earn in dollars.
DG Bello condemned the activities of traffickers and unregistered labour recruiters who prey on vulnerable Nigerians.
I am impressed with the outcome of the operation today because we were able to arrest five suspected members of the trafficking gang that have been recruiting and trafficking our citizens to various tension-soaked countries, especially in the Middle East, for exploitation, she said.
This comes barely two months after NAPTIP intercepted 25 women in Abuja who were being trafficked to Saudi Arabia for labour exploitation.
