The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has handed over 52 suspected human trafficking individuals to the Zamfara State government.
The NAPTIP state coordinator Aliyu Sarkin Sudan, while handing over the victims to the officials of the Zamfara State Substance Abuse Control and Prohibition of Human Trafficking Agency yesterday, said the 52 arrested trafficking victims are from Anka and Talata-Mafara local government areas of the state.
He said the 52 individuals, mostly between the ages of 17 and 25, including the suspected mastermind called Bilyaminu, who embarked on a journey to Abuja for a mining job, were arrested by the troops of the Nigerian Army.
He said the 52 of the arrested trafficking victims were returned to Zamfara State, while mastermind Bilyaminu remains in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) for further investigation.
Speaking to journalists after receiving the trafficking victims, the executive secretary of the Zamfara State Substance Abuse Control and Prohibition of Human Trafficking Agency, Ishaq Ibrahim Anka, stated that after a thorough investigation by the DSS, the victims were returned to NAPTIP for further action.
“We received 52 persons from the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) Abuja, and they are people hailed from Talata-Mafara and Anka local government of Zamfara State.
“As you can see today, Sunday, we have also handed over the 52 victims to the two local government chairmen to reunite them with their families,” the executive secretary said.
