Details have emerged how agents who specialise in trafficking Nigerian children overseas were nabbed by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAFTIP)
The details were narrated in a statement signed by NAPTIP National Press Officer, Vincent Adekoye, who stated the operation was led by the agency’s Director General, Binta Adamu Bello
“In a decisive and unprecedented crackdown that caught all actors unaware, the Director General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, Binta Adamu Bello, today (Wednesday) led a high-powered special operation at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, resulting in the dramatic rescue of 24 victims of human trafficking and the arrest of five suspected trafficking agents.
“Among the suspected human traffickers arrested at the airport was a retired senior uniform officer with one of the foremost law enforcement agencies in Nigeria, who is alleged to be a prominent member of the trafficking syndicate operating within the South-West region of Nigeria.
“The well-planned action, which was hailed by other travellers at the airport, was a continuation of the newly unveiled anti-human trafficking efforts and onslaught against human trafficking by the Director General, targeting recruitment hubs, trafficking spots, and routes within Nigeria.”
According to the account, among the perpetrators of the human trafficking was a father who attempted to traffic his daughter to Baghdad, Iraq.
According to Adekoye, the operation, which was based on credible intelligence, with the victims being majorly young persons between the ages of 15 and 26.
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He said they had been recruited from Kano, Katsina, Oyo, Ondo, and Rivers states, and were heading to Iraq, Sudan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Afghanistan.
According to Adekoye, one of the victims vowed to ensure that her father was prosecuted for attempting to traffic her to Iraq.
According to him, another one stated that her mother was deceived into believing that she was going to Europe to work and earn in dollars.
“I struggled to hold my emotions while watching the video of those girls who were being maltreated and beaten by the traffickers. If that is what awaits me there, I will not go.
“I am seriously annoyed with my father because he deceived me. My father told me that his friend had a job for me at a supermarket in Baghdad. He did not tell me that it is in Iraq.
“I know that Iraq is not a good place to work right now due to the crisis there, but I did not know that Baghdad is in Iraq,” Adekoye quoted the victim as saying.
obviously, the above is a clear warning for those interest in trafficking Nigerian children for their selfish ends.
Cami Ezenwa is a Writer, Editor, Publicist, Biographer and Journalism Trainer
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