The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) says it has rescued 25 women in Abuja from suspected human traffickers who were allegedly preparing to move them to Saudi Arabia for labour exploitation.
A statement by NAPTIP’s Press Officer, VINCENT ADEKOYE, revealed that the victims, aged between 17 and 43, were intercepted in front of a popular hotel in Wuse II, where traffickers had gathered them for onward transportation.
ADEKOYE said the women were recruited from Kano, Jigawa, and Katsina states with promises of lucrative domestic work abroad, while many of them, who had never been to Abuja before, were stranded without travel documents when rescued.
Meanwhile NAPTIP’s Director-General, BINTA BELLO, who frowned at the activities of the traffickers, warned that some trafficking gangs now use Abuja as a centralized coordination point for trafficking.
She warned the Association of Recruiters and Licensed Placement Agency of Nigeria to regulate its members, stressing that trafficking victims often suffer extreme exploitation abroad.
