The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIIS) has intercepted three victims of human trafficking and one suspected trafficker in Jigawa state.
The victims included two female and a male, whose ages range between 17 and 32 years who were intercepted at Tsamiyar Ilu Checkpoint in Kazaure local government area in the north west of Jigawa State.
Parading the victims and the suspected agents before newsmen at the NIS headquarters in Dutse, the State Comptroller of Immigration, Mr Samson Umar Agada confirmed that all the victims, including two siblings of the same parents, were from Kogi State, while the suspect was their uncle.
“Upon their interception and subsequent profiling and interrogation, the victims confessed to us that they were on their way to Daura local government area of Katsina and cross over to Libya. Upon further interrogation, they confessed that they have a sister who is residing in Libya they intended to join.
“The accomplice, Mr Mustapha Zulqarlaini, who claims to be the uncle of the victims, facilitated their journey from Kano to Daura. He was also invited from Kano to confirm their mission,” he stated.
Agada confirmed that the victims embarked on the journey with the consent of their parents, who he said cited the current economic hardship and chronic poverty, noting that the issue of poverty should not be an excuse.
“We are, therefore, using this medium to appeal to all parents to watch over their children from being deceived by Mustapha Zulqarlaini and the likes.”
He subsequently handed over the victims and the suspected accomplice to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), whose state commander, Abdulkarim Siirajo, promised a thorough investigation and subsequent prosecution of the accomplice to serve as a deterrence.
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