by Stephen Angbulu
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons on Tuesday said eight suspected human traffickers have been arrested by the agency in the last two weeks.
A spokesperson for the agency, Adekoye Vincent, in a statement, added that a total of 104 victims were also rescued during the period.
Vincent, while quoting the Director-General of NAPTIP, Basheer Muhammed, said the victims were intercepted by operatives of the agency on their way to Europe en-route Libya.
“The victims were on transit from Ondo, Ekiti, Delta, Anambra, Edo, Osun, Kogi, Akwa Ibom, Kwara, Ogun and Lagos states en route to Rivers, Oyo, Osun, Delta and Ogun States then to Europe via Libya.
“On receiving the information, a special operation was coordinated by the NAPTIP Joint Border Task Force in collaboration with the Katsina State Police Command and 19 victims were rescued on August 18.
“No matter where the traffickers go to deceive and recruit victims, they will always meet us at the exit point. Their field days in the illicit business of human trafficking and child labour are over.
“We are determined to run them out of business and even send them to jail unless they desist from their nefarious activities and find other legitimate ventures to engage in,” the statement added.
The agency urged parents to stop allowing their children to embark on unverified journeys with false promise of economic opportunities.
NAPTIP nabs eight suspected traffickers, rescues 104 victims
