Operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) have intercepted 25 women suspected to be victims of labour exploitation en route to Saudi Arabia.
The women, aged between 17 and 43, were picked up in front of a popular hotel in Wuse II, Abuja, where they had gathered while waiting for their traffickers to provide them with travel documents and further instructions.
NAPTIP said the operation followed renewed surveillance activities and targeted monitoring in black spots across major cities in the country.
According to the agency, the victims were recruited from Kano, Jigawa, and Katsina states with promises of lucrative jobs as domestic workers in Saudi Arabia. Many of them confessed it was their first time in Abuja and admitted they were stranded after their supposed recruiters failed to show up.
One of the victims narrated: “Some people came to our village and told my parents that they would assist me in travelling abroad to work as a house help in Saudi Arabia. They promised that I would earn well and support my family. But they have not given us any documents, like an international passport or a visa, and we are worried because no one has come to attend to us as they assured us.”
Director-General of NAPTIP, Binta Adamu Bello, OON, described the development as another attempt by traffickers to exploit vulnerable Nigerians under the guise of foreign job opportunities.
She revealed that the Federal Capital Territory is increasingly being used as a coordination hub for trafficking syndicates. “I wish to alert our partners and stakeholders to the new modus operandi of a human trafficking syndicate that uses Abuja as a muster point for their nefarious activities. Just a few months ago, we rescued some victims from a hotel near the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport as they were about to be trafficked to the Middle East,” she said.
Bello expressed concern that the women eagerly accepted the offers without realising the dangers of exploitation and abuse in destination countries. She added that NAPTIP has already launched a manhunt for a popular travel agency suspected to be at the centre of the recruitment network.
“The good news is that we have successfully disrupted this trafficking process, and we are closing in on the agency whose name features prominently in the whole operation. I also call on the Association of Recruiters, Licensed Placement Agency of Nigeria, and other regulatory bodies to take responsibility and regulate the activities of their members,” the DG stated.
She reiterated the agency’s commitment to protecting vulnerable Nigerians from traffickers and warned that the exploitation of victims abroad remains a matter of grave concern.
The latest interception, NAPTIP noted, is part of its intensified collaboration with sister security agencies and development partners to disrupt trafficking rings across the country.
