Nigeria’s anti-human trafficking agency has rescued 19 girls and arrested four people suspected of involving in a human trafficking racket in the country’s Jigawa state, an official confirmed Monday.
Basheer Garba-Mohammed, head of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), told journalists in the city of Kano that the rescued victims are females aged 14 to 29, who were supposed to be trafficked to Europe via Niger.
NAPTIP received an intelligence report saying that the suspects harbored the victims in their house in Jigawa state before moving them in batches to Niger.
“On receiving the information, a special operation was coordinated by NAPTIP Joint Border Task Force in collaboration with Katsina state police Command, and the 19 victims were rescued on Aug. 18,” Garba-Mohammed said, adding the four suspected traffickers were arrested on the same day. Enditem
